The lepidopteran mitochondrial control region: structure and evolution

For several species of lepidoptera, most of the approximately 350-bp mitochondrial control-region sequences were determined. Six of these species are in one genus, Jalmenus; are closely related; and are believed to have undergone recent rapid speciation. Recent speciation was supported by the observation of low interspecific sequence divergence. Thus, no useful phylogeny could be constructed for the genus. Despite a surprising conservation of control-region length, there was little conservation of primary sequences either among the three lepidopteran genera or between lepidoptera and Drosophila. Analysis of secondary structure indicated only one possible feature in common--inferred stem loops with higher-than-random folding energies-- although the positions of the structures in different species were unrelated to regions of primary sequence similarity. We suggest that the conserved, short length of control regions is related to the observed lack of heteroplasmy in lepidopteran mitochondrial genomes. In addition, determination of flanking sequences for one Jalmenus species indicated (i) only weak support for the available model of insect 12S rRNA structure and (ii) that tRNA translocation is a frequent event in the evolution of insect mitochondrial genomes.      

Control of nematode parasites by grazing management—II. Decontamination of sheep and cattle pastures by varying periods of grazing with the alternate host

Commencing in December 1970, paddocks of a uniform series of sheep pastures were grazed for 6, 12 or 24 weeks by either yearling steers is or yearling ewes. Cattle pastures were treated similarly. All ewes and steers were pre-dosed with anthelmintic.At the conclusion of alternate grazing the effectiveness of the grazing treatments was evaluated by grazing each paddock for 1 month with either ten worm-free lambs (sheep pastures) or three wormfree calves (cattle pastures). The test animals were then slaughtered for total worm counts. The grazing of sheep pastures with cattle for 6, 12 or 24 weeks from December onwards resulted in reductions in numbers of Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis in test lambs. In comparison with continuous grazing by sheep, Nematodirus spp was only reduced after 24 weeks grazing by cattle. Cattle pastures grazed by sheep for 6 weeks showed no reduction in numbers of Ostertagia ostertagi or Cooperia oncophora in test calves. However after 12 weeks with sheep, numbers of O. ostertagi though not C. oncophora were reduced and after 24 weeks of alternate grazing both these species were reduced.Calves following the 6 week sheep treatments acquired both Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis and the calves from the 12 week sheep treatment paddock also carried H. contortus. For sheep the only evidence of cross-transmission was the occurrence of small numbers of Cooperia oncophora in test lambs from the 24 week cattle grazing treatment.The results provide evidence that sequential stocking with cattle and sheep in conjunction with anthelmintic treatment is an effective management strategy for preparing parasitologically safer pastures, but further information is required to determine the optimum timing of sequential stocking in farming situations.     

Early network activity propagates bidirectionally between hippocampus and cortex

Spontaneous activity in the developing brain helps refine neuronal connections before the arrival of sensory‐driven neuronal activity. In mouse neocortex during the first postnatal week, waves of spontaneous activity originating from pacemaker regions in the septal nucleus and piriform cortex propagate through the neocortex. Using high‐speed Ca²⁺ imaging to resolve the spatiotemporal dynamics of wave propagation in parasagittal mouse brain slices, we show that the hippocampus can act as an additional source of neocortical waves. Some waves that originate in the hippocampus remain restricted to that structure, while others pause at the hippocampus‐neocortex boundary and then propagate into the neocortex. Blocking GABAergic neurotransmission decreases the likelihood of wave propagation into neocortex, whereas blocking glutamatergic neurotransmission eliminates spontaneous and evoked hippocampal waves. A subset of hippocampal and cortical waves trigger Ca²⁺ waves in astrocytic networks after a brief delay. Hippocampal waves accompanied by Ca²⁺ elevation in astrocytes are more likely to propagate into the neocortex. Finally, we show that two structures in our preparation that initiate waves—the hippocampus and the piriform cortex—can be electrically stimulated to initiate propagating waves at lower thresholds than the neocortex, indicating that the intrinsic circuit properties of those regions are responsible for their pacemaker function. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 661–672, 2016     

Mycobacterium bovis strain bacillus Calmette-Guérin-induced liver granulomas contain a diverse TCR repertoire, but a monoclonal T cell population is sufficient for protective granuloma formation

Granuloma formation is a form of delayed-type hypersensitivity requiring CD4(+) T cells. Granulomas control the growth and dissemination of pathogens, preventing host inflammation from harming surrounding tissues. Using a murine model of Mycobacterium bovis strain bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection we studied the extent of T cell heterogeneity present in liver granulomas. We demonstrate that the TCR repertoire of granuloma-infiltrating T cells is very diverse even at the single-granuloma level, suggesting that before granuloma closure, a large number of different T cells are recruited to the lesion. At the same time, the TCR repertoire is selected, because AND TCR transgenic T cells (Valpha11/Vbeta3 anti-pigeon cytochrome c) are preferentially excluded from granulomas of BCG-infected AND mice, and cells expressing secondary endemic Vbeta-chains are enriched among AND cells homing to granulomas. Next, we addressed whether TCR heterogeneity is required for effective granuloma formation. We infected 5CC7/recombinase-activating gene 2(-/-) mice with recombinant BCG that express pigeon cytochrome c peptide in a mycobacterial 19-kDa bacterial surface lipoprotein. A CD4(+) T cell with a single specificity in the absence of CD8(+) T cells is sufficient to form granulomas and adequately control bacteria. Our study shows that expanded monoclonal T cell populations can be protective in mycobacterial infection.     

The transmission of digenetic trematodes: style, elegance, complexity

Traditionally, the field of parasitology has dealt with eukaryoticanimals, to the exclusion of viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.,which is the way it will be approached here. The focus of thepresent paper will be on certain ecological aspects of the lifecycles and life-history strategies employed by the Digenea,a diverse group of platyhelminths that includes some 25,000species. More specifically, the review will consider the natureof host/parasite interactions within molluscan intermediatehosts and the manner in which these interactions, or lack thereof,function in structuring trematode infracommunities within thesemolluscan intermediate hosts. Literature in this area suggeststhat predation/competition may be a significant structuringforce for infracommunities in certain marine prosobranchs, butnot others, and that temporal/spatial factors may be involvedas structuring mechanisms in at least some freshwater pulmonates.     

Plagioporus sinitsini (Digenea : Opecoelidae): a one-host life cycle

Adult Plagioporus sinitsini occur within daughter sporocysts voided with the feces of prosobranch snails Elimia symmetrica in Basin Creek, North Carolina. These worms produced eggs containing active miracidia while still in the snail. Adults in snails and adults in rosyside dace, Clinostomus funduloides, collected from the same stream were indistinguishable morphometrically. Adults in snails develop from cotylocercous cercariae sequestered in daughter sporocysts that pass through the metacercaria stage. These observations, and previous study in Michigan, suggest that the life cycle of P. sinitsini has 3 potential pathways, i.e., a 3-host life cycle involving molluscan, arthropod, and piscine hosts, a 2-host life cycle involving only molluscan and piscine hosts, and a 1-host life cycle involving only the snail host. The truncated life cycles do not appear to be the result of paedomorphosis.     

Genetic loss of D-amino acid oxidase activity reverses schizophrenia-like phenotypes in mice

Reduced function of the N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor (NMDAR) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The NMDAR contains a glycine binding site in its NR1 subunit that may be a useful target for the treatment of schizophrenia. In this study, we assessed the therapeutic potential of long-term increases in the brain levels of the endogenous NMDAR glycine site agonist D-serine, through the genetic inactivation of its catabolic enzyme D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) in mice. The effects of eliminating DAO function were investigated in mice that display schizophrenia-related behavioral deficits due to a mutation ( Grin 1 ^D481N ) in the NR1 subunit that results in a reduction in NMDAR glycine affinity. Grin 1 ^D481N mice show deficits in sociability, prolonged latent inhibition, enhanced startle reactivity and impaired spatial memory. The hypofunctional Dao 1 ^G181R mutation elevated brain levels of D-serine, but alone it did not affect performance in the behavioral measures. Compared to animals with only the Grin 1 ^D481N mutation, mice with both the Dao1 ^G181R and Grin 1 ^D481N mutations displayed an improvement in social approach and spatial memory retention, as well as a reversal of abnormally persistent latent inhibition and a partial normalization of startle responses. Thus, an increased level of D-serine resulting from decreased catalysis corrected the performance of mice with deficient NMDAR glycine site activation in behavioral tasks relevant to the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. Diminished DAO activity and elevations in D-serine may serve as an effective therapeutic intervention for the treatment of psychiatric symptoms.     

Bayesian Estimation of the Number of Species using Noninformative Priors

Consider a sample of animal abundances collected from one sampling occasion. Our focus is in estimating the number of species in a closed population. In order to conduct a noninformative Bayesian inference when modeling this data, we derive Jeffreys and reference priors from the full likelihood. We assume that the species' abundances are randomly distributed according to a distribution indexed by a finite‐dimensional parameter. We consider two specific cases which assume that the mean abundances are constant or exponentially distributed. The Jeffreys and reference priors are functions of the Fisher information for the model parameters; the information is calculated in part using the linear difference score for integer parameter models (Lindsay & Roeder 1987). The Jeffreys and reference priors perform similarly in a data example we consider. The posteriors based on the Jeffreys and reference priors are proper. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)