Ichtyotoxic activity of extracts from Mexican marine macroalgae

Seventy-three species of macroalgae from the Mexican Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean coast were screened for ichtyotoxic activity. Ethanolic, acetonic and aqueous extracts were prepared and tested against the fish Carassius auratus. The extracts were classified on the basis of their effects as: toxic if the fish died in two hours or less; moderately toxic, if the organism behaved abnormally but death did notoccur, and non-toxic if the fish did not display any change. 79% species were ichtyotoxic to some degree. Extracts of 39 species were toxic, with at least one extract with lethal effects, 19 were moderately toxic and 15 species were non-toxic. Only the extracts ofDictyota bartayresiana, Dictyota cervicornis,Lobophora variegata, Bryothamnion triquetrum and Laurencia obtusa were toxic in all three solvents. The acetone and ethanol extracts were more active, and therefore are more suitable for extraction of toxic substances. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Helicobacter pylori induces an increase in inositol phosphates in cultured epithelial cells

Abstract Helicobacter pylori is a bacterial pathogen of humans that infects the gastric mucosa. This infection has been associated with gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric carcinomas. Diverse in vitro studies have described efficient adherence of H. pylori to different types of epithelial cells. Because of its varied effects on host cells, we have analysed signal transduction events in H. pyfori -infected epithelial cells. Our results show that H. pylori induces an increase in inositol phosphates in all cultured epithelial cells used, including HeLa, Henle 407, Hep-2, and the human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line AGS. Bacterial growth medium supernatants induce a similar response in the host cell. The increase in inositol phosphates is not related to redistribution of cytoskeletal proteins such as actin or α-actinin nor tyrosine-phosphorylation of host cell proteins. The inositol phosphate increase is also observed in cells infected with low or non-adherent H. pylori mutants or mutants defective in the vacuolating toxin or urease holoenzyme. These results indicate that inositol phosphate release in H. pytori -infected cells is not dependent on bacterial adherence, and that a soluble bacterial factor, but not the vacuolating toxin or urease holoenzyme, mediates such an effect.     

Complete sequence of a new HLA-B35 allele found in a tribe of Mapuche Indians in the south of Argentina

The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the GenBank nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number U17107. The nameB*3509 was officially assigned by the WHO Nomenclature Committee in December 1994     

Feeding and trapping fish withPiper auritum

The “natives” at Rio Indio, on the central Caribbean slope of Panama, trap the river fishBrycon chagrensis using leaves ofPiper auritum as bait in feeders. The people use this technique because the fish tastes like the leaf after it has fed regularly on the leaf. This technique has potential use in aquaculture. The plant could also be cultivated for marketing as a food-flavoring condiment and fish food.     

Ecological memory at millennial time-scales: the importance of data constraints,species longevity and niche features

Ecological memory describes how antecedent conditions drive the dynamics of an ecological system. Palaeoecological records are paramount to understand ecological memory at millennial time-scales, but the concept is widely neglected in the literature, and a formal approach is lacking. Here, we fill such a gap by introducing a quantitative framework for ecological memory in palaeoecology, and assessing how data constraints and taxa traits shape ecological memory patterns. We simulate the population dynamics and pollen abundance of 16 virtual taxa with different life and niche traits as a response to an environmental driver. The data is processed to mimic a realistic sediment deposition and sampled at increasing depth intervals. We quantify ecological memory with Random Forests, and assess how data properties and taxa traits shape ecological memory. We find that life-span and niche features modulate the relative importance of the antecedent values of the driver and the pollen abundance over periods of 240 yr and longer. Additionally, we find that accumulation rate and decreasing pollen-sampling resolution inflate the importance of antecedent pollen abundance. Our results suggest that: 1) ecological memory patterns are sensitive to varying accumulation rates. A better understanding on the numerical basis of this effect may enable the assimilation of ecological memory concepts and methods in palaeoecology; 2) incorporating niche theory and models is essential to better understand the nature of ecological memory patterns at millennial time-scales. 3) Long-lived generalist taxa are highly decoupled from the environmental signal. This finding has implications on how we interpret the abundance-environment relationship of real taxa with similar traits, and how we use such knowledge to forecast their distribution or reconstruct past climate.     

Pathways of Phosphorus Absorption and Early Signaling between the Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plants

This review highlights the key role that mycorrhizal fungi play in making phosphorus (Pi) more available to plants, including pathways of phosphorus absorption, phosphate transporters and plant-mycorrhizal fungus symbiosis, especially in conditions where the level of inorganic phosphorus (Pi) in the soil is low. Mycorrhizal fungi colonization involves a series of signaling where the plant root exudates strigolactones, while the mycorrhizal fungi release a mixture of chito-oligosaccharides and liposaccharides, that activate the symbiosis process through gene signaling pathways, and contact between the hyphae and the root. Once the symbiosis is established, the extraradical mycelium acts as an extension of the roots and increases the absorption of nutrients, particularly phosphorus by the phosphate transporters. Pi then moves along the hyphae to the plant root/fungus interface. The transfer of Pi occurs in the apoplectic space; in the case of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Pi is discharged from the arbuscular to the plant’s root symplasm, in the membrane that surrounds the arbuscule. Pi is then absorbed through the plant periarbuscular membrane by plant phosphate transporters. Furthermore, plants can acquire Pi from soil as a direct absorption pathway. As a result of this review, several genes that codify for high-affinity Pi transporters were identified. In plants, the main family is Pht1 although it is possible to find others such as Pht2, Pht3, Pho1 and Pho2. As in plants, mycorrhizal fungi have genes belonging to the Pht1 subfamily. In arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi we found L1PT1, GiPT, MtPT1, MtPT2, MtPT4, HvPT8, ZmPht1, TaPTH1.2, GmosPT and LYCes. HcPT1, HcPT2 and BePT have been characterized in ectomycorrhizal fungi. Each gene has a different way of expressing itself. In this review, we present diagrams of the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and the plant. This knowledge allows us to design solutions to regional problems such as food production in soils with low levels of Pi.

     

Correction to: Characterization of a hybrid zone between two annual killifish genus Austrolebias from the Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar Sites in South America

Hydrobiologia - Due to an unfortunate turn of events, the incorrect caption of Fig. 2 appeared in the original publication. Figure 2 and its correct caption is published here and should be treated...     

Diversity in proteinase specificity of thermophilic lactobacilli as revealed by hydrolysis of dairy and vegetable proteins

Ability of industrially relevant species of thermophilic lactobacilli strains to hydrolyze proteins from animal (caseins and β-lactoglobulin) and vegetable (soybean and wheat) sources, as well as influence of peptide content of growth medium on cell envelope-associated proteinase (CEP) activity, was evaluated. Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis (CRL 581 and 654), L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (CRL 454 and 656), Lactobacillus acidophilus (CRL 636 and 1063), and Lactobacillus helveticus (CRL 1062 and 1177) were grown in a chemically defined medium supplemented or not with 1 % Casitone. All strains hydrolyzed mainly β-casein, while degradation of α_s-caseins was strain dependent. Contrariwise, κ-Casein was poorly degraded by the studied lactobacilli. β-Lactoglobulin was mainly hydrolyzed by CRL 656, CRL 636, and CRL 1062 strains. The L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis strains, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus CRL 656, and L. helveticus CRL 1177 degraded gliadins in high extent, while the L. acidophilus and L. helveticus strains highly hydrolyzed soy proteins. Proteinase production was inhibited by Casitone, the most affected being the L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis species. This study highlights the importance of proteolytic diversity of lactobacilli for rational strain selection when formulating hydrolyzed dairy or vegetable food products.