Plasma 11-Hydroxycorticoid Levels after Carbenoxolone Sodium

A definite rise in plasma 11-hydroxycorticoid levels has been shown in eight patients with duodenal ulcer following the oral administration of carbenoxolone sodium. A similar rise was seen in one patient with sarcoidosis whose pituitary A.C.T.H. secretion had been acutely suppressed with dexamethasone. No such rise, however, was seen in three patients suffering from adrenal insufficiency. It is suggested that carbenoxolone acts directly on the adrenal cortex, causing an increased production of corticosteroids.     

Respiratory control in aquatic insects dictates their vulnerability to global warming

Forecasting species responses to climatic warming requires knowledge of how temperature impacts may be exacerbated by other environmental stressors, hypoxia being a principal example in aquatic systems. Both stressors could interact directly as temperature affects both oxygen bioavailability and ectotherm oxygen demand. Insufficient oxygen has been shown to limit thermal tolerance in several aquatic ectotherms, although, the generality of this mechanism has been challenged for tracheated arthropods. Comparing species pairs spanning four different insect orders, we demonstrate that oxygen can indeed limit thermal tolerance in tracheates. Species that were poor at regulating oxygen uptake were consistently more vulnerable to the synergistic effects of warming and hypoxia, demonstrating the importance of respiratory control in setting thermal tolerance limits.     

Global and regional patterns in lotic meiofauna

• 1 Parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) was used to assess patterns in the distribution of harpacticoid copepods (all freshwater species and stream species only) at global and regional scales. These analyses provided a focus for reviewing large scale patterns and processes in freshwater meiofauna.
• 2 On a global scale, PAE suggested that large‐scale biogeographical events have been most important in shaping present‐day distributions in the Canthocamptidae. A small proportion (4%) of canthocamptid species were widespread (i.e. occurred in more than one biogegraphical region), suggesting that dispersal may also play a role in determining distribution at the species level. Global distribution patterns for other meiofauna suggest varying roles for dispersal and vicariant events. No consistent latitudinal trends in species diversity were evident, although a lack of distributional data for many regions, and uncertainty over the status of many cosmopolitan species, precludes more robust analyses. Molecular techniques should prove useful in identifying truly cosmopolitan taxa.
• 3 On a regional scale, a PAE within Western Europe demonstrated a clear link between the distribution of canthocamptid species and the extent of the Last (Wiechselian) glaciation. Northern and southern areas of Europe contain distinctive harpacticoid faunas and the recolonisation of northern Europe appears to have been from the Balkans rather than other Mediterranean peninsulae. The high harpacticoid diversity in southern Europe, may reflect a lack of glacial disruption of groundwater habitats.
• 4 A PAE of lotic data for harpacticoid copepods within the Holarctic reflected the global PAE for freshwater harpacticoids as a whole, but not the regional PAE. A high proportion of stream‐dwelling harpacticoids are widespread species, but only one (Bryocamptus zschokkei) was found in streams across the Holarctic. Other cosmopolites were restricted to streams in Europe or North America, suggesting that species‘ niche requirements might differ among regions. There appeared to be some convergence in the composition of lotic copepod communities in terms of the number of species within genera.
• 5 We conclude that large‐scale processes inevitably have a major influence on the local composition of lotic meiofaunal communities, but that the relative importance of small scale vs. large scale processes is unclear at present, largely due to a paucity of suitable data.

     

Do developmental mode and dispersal shape abundance-occupancy relationships in marine macroinvertebrates?

1. Dispersal is a crucial process in maintaining population structures in many organisms, and is hypothesized as a process underlying the interspecific relationship between abundance and distribution. Here we examined whether there was a link between the dispersal and developmental modes of marine macroinvertebrates and the slopes and elevations of interspecific abundance-occupancy relationships. We predicted that if within-site retention of larvae ranks in the order brooders > lecithotrophs > planktotrophs, for any given level of mean abundance, occupancy should increase in the order brooders < lecithotrophs < planktotrophs. We also predicted that propensity to form metapopulations should be greater for planktonic dispersers (i.e. lecithotrophs and planktotrophs combined) than for non-planktonic (i.e. brooders), resulting in steeper abundance-occupancy relationships for the former. 2. Predictions were tested using a data set for 362 subtidal marine macroinvertebrates occurring across 446 1-km(2) grid squares around the British Isles; analyses were performed on the data set as a whole and for separate phyla. 3. The total data set had a Z-transformed effect size of 0.79, within the confidence intervals described by Blackburn et al. (2006; Journal of Animal Ecology, 75, 1426-1439), and was consistently present with relatively homogeneous effect size in separate analyses of polychaetes, crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms. 4. In all cases, planktonic dispersing organisms showed an abundance-occupancy relationship with greater elevation than that for non-planktonic organisms; in polychaetes the elevation of slopes was in the rank order planktotrophs > lecithotrophs > brooders. No differences between the slopes of the abundance-occupancy relationship were apparent for different dispersal modes either within, or across phyla. 5. We conclude that dispersal capacity may play an important part in determining the elevation of the abundance-occupancy relationship, the corollary of low dispersal in the marine realm being greater local retention of larvae and greater local population abundance at low extents of geographical distribution.     

Ferric ion (hydr)oxo clusters in the “Venus flytrap” cleft of FbpA: M?ssbauer, calorimetric and mass spectrometric studies

Isothermal calorimetric studies of the binding of iron(III) citrate to ferric ion binding protein from Neisseria gonorrhoeae suggested the complexation of a tetranuclear iron(III) cluster as a single step binding event (apparent binding constant K(app) (ITC) = 6.0(5) × 10(5) M(-1)). High-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric data supported the binding of a tetranuclear oxo(hydroxo) iron(III) cluster of formula [Fe(4)O(2)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)(cit)](+) in the interdomain binding cleft of FbpA. The mutant H9Y-nFbpA showed a twofold increase in the apparent binding constant [K(app) (ITC) = 1.1(7) × 10(6) M(-1)] for the tetranuclear iron(III) cluster compared to the wild-type protein. M?ssbauer spectra of Escherichia coli cells overexpressing FbpA and cultured in the presence of added (57)Fe citrate were indicative of the presence of dinuclear and polynuclear clusters. FbpA therefore appears to have a strong affinity for iron clusters in iron-rich environments, a property which might endow the protein with new biological functions.     

Evolution, mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and systematic position of the Macaronesian endemic Hydrotarsus Falkenström (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Abstract.  Hydrotarsus Falkenström (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) is the only genus of aquatic beetle considered to be endemic to the Atlantic islands of Macaronesia. Its three known species ( H. lundbladi Falkenström from Madeira, and H. compunctus (Wollaston) and H. pilosus Guignot from the Canary Islands) are revised, and their phylogenetic position studied based on sequences of the 16S rRNA and Cytochrome Oxidase I genes of mitochondrial DNA. Our results clearly indicate that the species of Hydrotarsus fall deep within the genus Hydroporus Clairville, in a clade formed by (in addition to Hydrotarsus ) species currently included in the H. fuscipennis , marginatus , nigrita and tessellatus groups, and in consequence a new synonymy is proposed: Hydrotarsus Falkenström =  Hydroporus Clairville syn.n. The origin of the species of ' Hydrotarsus ', based on molecular clock estimations, is late Miocene, relatively recent in the history of the Atlantic islands. They are therefore not palaeoendemics but highly derived, recently evolved elements in the Macaronesian fauna. The estimated ages of divergence among species are much more recent than the emergence of any of the islands on which they are found, suggesting rare long-range dispersal as the mechanism driving the diversification of the lineage. Morphological modifications of the species of ' Hydrotarsus ' are discussed, as well as those of other dytiscids from hygropetric habitats.     

Hydrolytic enzyme substrates. II. A new method for measuring periodate

This report describes an accurate and sensitive method for quantitatively measuring periodate concentration. The substances used to determine periodate are 4(p-nitrophenoxy)1,2-butanediol and 4(2,4-dinitrophenoxy)1,2-butanediol. These substances are readily oxidized by periodate yielding β-nitrophenoxy aldehydes which undergoes a facile β-elimination in base to yield the colored nitrophenolate ion. The concentration of the nitrophenolate ion is thus equivalent to the concentration of periodate. This report documents the validity of this reaction as an analytical method. The method was shown to be capable of accurately measuring periodate in concentrations as low as 10^?8M. Its value in biochemical analyses was demonstrated by quantitatively measuring the amount of periodate used to oxidize small quantities of adenosine 5′-phosphate, d-arabitol and d-glucose. Its accuracy, sensitivity and ease of use was shown by its utility in estimating the molecular weight of yeast transfer RNA using about 6 A₂₆₀ units of this material.     

Dispersal ability rather than ecological tolerance drives differences in range size between lentic and lotic water beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

Aim In aquatic ecosystems, standing (lentic) and running (lotic) waters differ fundamentally in their stability and persistence, shaping the comparative population genetic structure, geographical range size and speciation rates of lentic versus lotic lineages. While the drivers of this pattern remain incompletely understood, the suite of traits making up the ability of a species to establish new populations is instrumental in determining such differences. Here we explore the degree to which the association between habitat type and geographical range size results from differences in dispersal ability or fundamental niche breadth in the members of the Enochrus bicolor complex, an aquatic beetle clade with species across the lentic–lotic divide. Location Western Mediterranean, with a special focus on North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily. Methods DNA sequences for four loci were obtained from species of the E. bicolor complex and analysed using phylogenetic inference. Dispersal and establishment abilities were assessed in lentic–lotic species pairs of the complex, using flight wing morphometrics and thermal tolerance ranges as surrogates, respectively. Results There were clear differences in range size between the lotic and lentic taxa of the complex, which appears to have had a lotic origin with two transitions to standing waters. Only small differences were observed in temperature tolerance and acclimation ability between the two lotic–lentic sister species studied. By contrast, wing morphometrics revealed clear, consistent differences between lotic and lentic Enochrus species pairs, the latter having a higher dispersal capacity. Main conclusions We hypothesize that there have been two habitat shifts from lotic to lentic waters, which have allowed marked expansions in geographical range size in western Mediterranean species of the E. bicolor complex. Differences in dispersal rather than in establishment ability appear to underlie differences in geographical range extent, as transitions to lentic waters were associated with changes in wing morphology, but not in thermal tolerance range. In this lineage of water beetles, selection for dispersal in geologically short‐lived lentic systems has driven the evolution of larger range sizes in lentic taxa compared with those of their lotic relatives.     

Secondary Bile Acid Induced DNA Damage in HT29 Cells: are Free Radicals Involved?

Increased bile acid secretion, as a consequence of a high fat diet, results in the increased production of bile acids that may escape the enterohepatic circulation, and be subsequently metabolised by the colonic micro-flora to form the co-mutagenic and cwarcinogenic secondary bile acids. The potential of the secondary bile acids lithocholate (LOC) and deoxycholate (DOC), to induce DNA damage, in the colonocyte cell line HT29, at physiological concentrations both individually and in a 2:l ratio was assessed. Results indicated significant levels of DNA damage induced by both bile acids, with LOC having the greater DNA damaging capacity. The potential role of vitamin A, and the antioxidant vitamin E, in reducing this damage was determined, over a range of vitamin concentrations. Both vitamins reduced the bile acid induced DNA damage. Vitamin A displayed a dose response relationship, whereas vitamin E reduced DNA damage close to negative control values at all concentrations above 50 μM. These results indicate a protective role for Vitamins A and E, against the DNA damaging capacity of LOC and DOC.