Spring bloom development of microbenthic algae and associated invertebrates in two reaches of a small lowland stream with contrasting sediment stability

SUMMARY. 1. Population growth rates and relative competitive abilities of the rotifer Keratella cochlearis f. tecta and the small-bodied cladoceran Daphnia ambigua were studied under different schedules of food addition but equal total food quantity (per 4-day interval). The initial population growth rate of Keratella was significantly affected by the feeding schedule and by the presence of competitors, while that of Daphnia was affected by neither factor. Population densities of both species tended to increase as the frequency of food addition increased.
2. Daphnia suppressed and excluded Keratella from mixed-species cultures when food was provided intermittently at a high concentration, but it failed to exclude the rotifer when food was provided in a near-continuous supply at low concentration. Keratella had only a minor suppressive effect on Daphnia in all mixed-species treatments.
3. Starvation experiments indicate that Daphnia is able to withstand food shortages for significantly longer periods of time than Keratella . These and other results indicate that the outcome of interspecific competition between these species may be influenced by me frequency and concentration at which food is supplied. Daphnia ambigua is competitively superior to K. cochlearis when food is concentrated or 'pulsed', but much less so when ambient food levels are chronically low. Patterns of food availability may have important effects in determining the relative abundance of rotifers and small cladocerans in natural zooplankton communities.     

Studies on the change of the respiratory system in roots in relation to the growth of plants II. Activity of iron-containing oxidases in roots of cereal crops with the aging of plants

Distribution of iron-containing oxidases in aging nodal rootsof rice and wheat was studied. Activities of cytochrome c oxidase(1.9.3.1 [EC] , cytochrome c : O₂ oxidoreductase), catalase (1.11.1.6 [EC] ,H₂O₂: H₂O₂ oxidoreductase) and peroxidase (1.11.1.7 [EC] , donor:H₂O₂ oxidoreductase) in wheat roots were comparatively higherthan were those in rice roots at corresponding stages. Cytochromec oxidase in roots remained active throughout the lives of therice and wheat crops. In rice roots, catalase seemed to playa distinct role around the panicle formation stage. Decay ofcatalase activity took place earlier than did that of peroxidaseand cytochrome c oxidase activities. In wheat roots similarenzyme activity changes were not observed. Data may suggestthat the high activity of iron containing oxidases at the panicleformation stage (I) may be chiefly due to catalase activityin rice roots. ¹Paper presented at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society ofthe Science of Soil and Manure, Japan (1968). (Received November 21, 1968; )     

Cord blood–derived cytokine-induced killer cells combined with blinatumomab as a therapeutic strategy for CD19+ tumors

Background

Cytokine-induced killer cells (CIKs) are an advanced therapeutic medicinal product (ATMP) that has shown therapeutic activity in clinical trials but needs optimization. We developed a novel strategy using CIKs from banked cryopreserved cord blood units (CBUs) combined with bispecific antibody (BsAb) blinatumomab to treat CD19⁺ malignancies.

Oocyte Mitochondria: Strategies to Improve Embrbryogenesis

Abstract  Mitochondria play a central role to provide ATP for fertilization and preimplantation embryo development in the ooplasm. The mitochondrial dysfunction of oocyte has been proposed as one of the causes of high levels of developmental retardation and arrest that occur in preimplantation embryos generated using Assisted Reproductive Technology. Cytoplasmic transfer (CT) from a donor to a recipient oocyte has been applied to infertility due to dysfunctional ooplasm, with resulting pregnancies and births. However, neither the efficacy nor safety of this procedure has been appropriately investigated. In order to improve embryogenesis, we observed the mitochondrial distribution in ooplasma under the several conditions using mitochondrial GFP-transgenic mice (mtGFP-tg mice) in which the mitochondria are visualized by GFP. In this report, we will present our research about the mitochondrial distribution in ooplasm during early embryogenesis and the fate of injected donor mitochondria after CT using mtGFP-tg mice. The mitochondria in ooplasm from the germinal vesicle stage to the morula stage were accumulated in the perinuclear region. The mitochondria of the mtGFP-tg mouse oocyte transferred into the wild type mouse embryo could be observed until the blastocysts stage, suggesting that the mtGFP-tg mice oocyte is very useful for visual observation of the mitochondrial distribution in the oocyte, and that the aberrant early developmental competences due to the oocyte mitochondrial dysfunction may be overcome by transferring the "normal" mitochondria.     

Use of host plants by Troidini butterflies (Papilionidae, Papilioninae): constraints on host shift

Molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted to determine relationships and to investigate character evolution for the Troidini/Aristolochia interaction, in an attempt to answer the following questions: (1) what is the present pattern of use of Aristolochia by these butterflies; (2) is the pattern we see today related to the phylogeny of plants or to their chemical composition; (3) can the geographical distribution of Aristolochia explain the host plant use observed today; and (4) how did the interaction between Troidini and Aristolochia evolve? Analyses of character optimization suggest that the current pattern of host plant use of these butterflies does not seem to be constrained by the phylogeny of their food plants, neither by the secondary chemicals in these plants nor by their geographical similarity. The current host plant use in these butterflies seems to be simply opportunistic, with species with a wider geographical range using more species of host plants than those with a more restricted distribution. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 90 , 247–261.     

Efficiency of selection, as measured by single nucleotide polymorphism variation, is dependent on inbreeding rate in Drosophila melanogaster

It is often hypothesized that slow inbreeding causes less inbreeding depression than fast inbreeding at the same absolute level of inbreeding. Possible explanations for this phenomenon include the more efficient purging of deleterious alleles and more efficient selection for heterozygote individuals during slow, when compared with fast, inbreeding. We studied the impact of inbreeding rate on the loss of heterozygosity and on morphological traits in Drosophila melanogaster. We analysed five noninbred control lines, 10 fast inbred lines and 10 slow inbred lines; the inbred lines all had an expected inbreeding coefficient of approximately 0.25. Forty single nucleotide polymorphisms in DNA coding regions were genotyped, and we measured the size and shape of wings and counted the number of sternopleural bristles on the genotyped individuals. We found a significantly higher level of genetic variation in the slow inbred lines than in the fast inbred lines. This higher genetic variation was resulting from a large contribution from a few loci and a smaller effect from several loci. We attributed the increased heterozygosity in the slow inbred lines to the favouring of heterozygous individuals over homozygous individuals by natural selection, either by associative over‐dominance or balancing selection, or a combination of both. Furthermore, we found a significant polynomial correlation between genetic variance and wing size and shape in the fast inbred lines. This was caused by a greater number of homozygous individuals among the fast inbred lines with small, narrow wings, which indicated inbreeding depression. Our results demonstrated that the same amount of inbreeding can have different effects on genetic variance depending on the inbreeding rate, with slow inbreeding leading to higher genetic variance than fast inbreeding. These results increase our understanding of the genetic basis of the common observation that slow inbred lines express less inbreeding depression than fast inbred lines. In addition, this has more general implications for the importance of selection in maintaining genetic variation.     

Studies on the change of the respiratory system in roots in relation to the growth of plants V. Effect of root pruning terminal oxidase activity in roots of cereal crops

This experiment studies the comparative activities of terminaloxidases (Fe-containing oxidases, Cu-containing oxidases andCN-resistant oxidases) in roots of rice and wheat seedlingsand the effect of root pruning on these terminal oxidases inthe roots of those crops. Data indicate that (i) excepting achange in the activity of Cu-containing oxidases no appreciabledifference in respiration or in Fe-containing and CN-resistantoxidases was noticed in the two types of seedling roots and(ii) root pruning did not produce any noticeable change in terminaloxidase activities in roots of wheat seedlings. A drastic changein terminal oxidase activities in roots of rice seedlings wasobserved, suggesting that a close relationship exists betweenCN-resistant oxidase and transplanting time. (Received November 21, 1968; )     

Impact of insect defoliation on forest carbon balance as assessed with a canopy assimilation model

Disturbances such as fire, hurricanes, and herbivory often result in the net release of CO₂ from forests to the atmosphere, but the magnitude of carbon (C) loss is poorly quantified and difficult to predict. Here, we investigate the carbon balance of an oak/pine forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens using the Canopy Conductance Constrained Carbon Assimilation (4C‐A) model. The 4C‐A model utilizes whole‐tree sap‐flux and leaf‐level photosynthetic gas exchange measurements at distinct canopy levels to estimate canopy assimilation. After model parameterization, sensitivity analyses, and evaluation against eddy flux measurements made in 2006, the model was used to predict C assimilation for an undisturbed year in 2005, and in 2007 when the stand was completely defoliated for 2–3 weeks during an infestation of gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar L.). Following defoliation, only 50% of the foliage reemerged in a second flush. In 2007, canopy net assimilation (A_nC), as modeled with the 4C‐A, was reduced to approximately 75% of A_nC in 2006 (940 vs. 1240 g C m^?2 a^?1). Overall, net primary production (NPP) in 2007 was approximately 240 g C m^?2 a^?1 (vs. 250 g C m^?2 a^?1 in 2006), with 60% of NPP allocated to foliage production, a short‐term carbon pool. Woody biomass accumulation, a long‐term carbon pool, was reduced by 20% compared with the previous year (72 vs. 57 g C m^?2 a^?1 in 2006 and 2007, respectively). The overall impact of the defoliation spanned 21% of upland forests (320 km²) in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, representing a significant amount of overall C not being taken up from the atmosphere by the forest, thus not accumulated in the biosphere.