Meloidogyne mayaguensis n. sp. (Meloidogynidae), a Root-knot Nematode from Puerto Rico

Meloidogyne mayaguensis n. sp. is described and illustrated from specimens obtained from galled roots of eggplant, Solanum melongena L., from Puerto Rico. The perineal pattern of females is round to ovoid with fine, widely spaced striae. It has occasional breaks of striation laterally and a circular tail tip area lacking striae. The stylet, 15.8 μm long, has reniform knobs that merge gradually with the stylet shaft. Males have a high, rectangular, smooth head region, not set off from the body contour. The labial disc is continuous with the medial lips which do not slope posteriorly. The styler, 22.9 μm long, has large rounded backward sloping knobs; the shaft is of uneven diameter. Mean body length of second-stage juveniles is 453.6 μm. The truncate head region is not annulated, and the rounded, slightly raised labial disc and the crescentic medial lips form dumbbell-shaped lip structures. The stylet, 11.6 μm long, has rounded, posteriorly sloping knobs. The slender tail, 54.4 μm long, gradually tapers to a bluntly pointed tip. Tomato, tobacco, pepper, and watermelon are good hosts; cotton and peanut are not hosts. M. mayaguensis n. sp. reproduces by mitotic parthenogenesis and has a somatic chromosome number of 2n = 44-45. The enzyme patterns are unique among Meloidogyne species.     

Effect of ethanol on heart rate and blood pressure in nonstressed and stressed rats

The effect of ethanol on the cardiovascular system (ECG, heart rate, blood pressure) was studied in anesthetized, nonstressed or stressed rats. In anesthetized rats, ethanol showed no effect on heart rate or ECG. In nonstressed rats, ethanol sedated the animals but increased heart rate significantly. This ethanol induced tachycardia seemed the result of a direct stimulation of the sympathetic nerves to the heart. Blood pressure was not significantly affected by ethanol in these nonstressed rats. In stressed rats, marked behavioral excitation and significant increases in heart rate and blood pressure were noted. Ethanol pretreatment calmed the animals considerably during restraint. Ethanol did reduce slightly the stress-induced tachycardia but markedly reduced or antagonized stress-induced blood pressure increases. No major changes in the ECG were noted during these studies with the exception of a few individual animals which showed pathologic ECG responses to ethanol. These data show that ethanol affects cardiovascular functions differently in anesthetized, nonstressed or stressed rats, and that ethanol can significantly reduce or antagonize stress-induced behavioral excitation, tachycardia and hypertension.     

Inhibiting PHGDH with NCT-503 reroutes glucose-derived carbons into the TCA cycle,independently of its on-target effect

The small-molecule inhibitor of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, NCT-503, reduces incorporation of glucose-derived carbons into serine in vitro. Here we describe an off-target effect of NCT-503 in neuroblastoma cell lines expressing divergent phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) levels and single-cell clones with CRISPR-Cas9-directed PHGDH knockout or their respective wildtype controls. NCT-503 treatment strongly reduced synthesis of glucose-derived citrate in all cell models investigated compared to the inactive drug control and independent of PHGDH expression level. Incorporation of glucose-derived carbons entering the TCA cycle via pyruvate carboxylase was enhanced by NCT-503 treatment. The activity of citrate synthase was not altered by NCT-503 treatment. We also detected no change in the thermal stabilisation of citrate synthase in cellular thermal shift assays from NCT-503-treated cells. Thus, the direct cause of the observed off-target effect remains enigmatic. Our findings highlight off-target potential within a metabolic assessment of carbon usage in cells treated with the small-molecule inhibitor, NCT-503.     

Contrasting heterozygosity‐fitness correlations across life in a long‐lived seabird

Selection is a central force underlying evolutionary change and can vary in strength and direction, for example across time and space. The fitness consequences of individual genetic diversity have often been investigated by testing for multilocus heterozygosity‐fitness correlations (HFCs), but few studies have been able to assess HFCs across life stages and in both sexes. Here, we test for HFCs using a 26‐year longitudinal individual‐based data set from a large population of a long‐lived seabird (the common tern, Sterna hirundo), where 7,974 chicks and breeders of known age were genotyped at 15 microsatellite loci and sampled for life‐history traits over the complete life cycle. Heterozygosity was not correlated with fledging or post‐fledging prospecting probabilities, but was positively correlated with recruitment probability. For breeders, annual survival was not correlated with heterozygosity, but annual fledgling production was negatively correlated with heterozygosity in males and highest in intermediately heterozygous females. The contrasting HFCs among life stages and sexes indicate differential selective processes and emphasize the importance of assessing fitness consequences of traits over complete life histories.     

Die histologische Natur des „Schmelzes“ der Hautzähnchen beim Panzerwels Corydoras

Zusammenfassung An der Spitze der Hautzähnchen von Corydoras bildet sich kein Schmelz aus, sondern Durodentin und zwar in sehr unterschiedlichem Umfange und wechselnder Art: bald erscheint es als eine dünnere oder dickere Oberflächenschicht, bald erfaßt es den Spitzenabschnitt als Ganzes, bald tritt es an einzelnen Stellen der Spitze auf.     

Untersuchungen über die funktion der radula einiger schnecken

Ohne Zusammenfassung