Predation resistance does not trade off with competitive ability in early-colonizing mosquitoes

The tradeoff between colonization and competitive ability has been proposed as a mechanism for ecological succession, and this tradeoff has been demonstrated in multiple successional communities. The tradeoff between competitive ability and predation resistance is also a widely-described phenomenon; however, this tradeoff is not usually postulated as a cause of ecological succession. Early successional species that arrive before predator colonization could be either (1) less vulnerable to predation than their successors, by virtue of being poor competitors (direct competition-predation tradeoff); or (2) equally or more vulnerable to predation, because they normally colonize ahead of predators in succession and therefore are not evolutionarily adapted to avoid predators that they rarely encounter (no competition–predation tradeoff). To test these alternative hypotheses, we established water-filled containers in an oak–hickory forest. We allowed half of the containers to be naturally colonized by early-successional Culex mosquitoes, mid-successional Aedes mosquitoes, and the mosquito predator Toxorhynchites rutilus. In the other half of the containers, we prevented Aedes colonization via systematic removal of Aedes eggs, but allowed Culex and T. rutilus to colonize. The numbers of mature Culex larvae and pupae, and later the total number of Culex, were significantly greater in containers where Aedes had been removed, which suggests that Culex are competitively suppressed by Aedes. Toxorhynchites rutilus abundance and colonization rate were unaffected by the removal of Aedes, and densities of both Culex and Aedes decreased significantly with T. rutilus abundance in both treatments. In-laboratory bioassays showed that Culex were significantly more vulnerable to predation by T. rutilus than were Aedes. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that Culex and Aedes demonstrate a direct colonization–competition tradeoff, and are inconsistent with the hypothesis of a direct competition–predation tradeoff.     

Molecular analysis of methane monooxygenase from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath)

Methane monooxygenase (MMO) is the enzyme responsible for the conversion of methane to methanol in methanotrophic bacteria. In addition, this enzyme complex oxidizes a wide range of aliphatic and aromatic compounds in a number of potentially useful biotransformations. In this study, we have used biochemical data obtained from purification and characterization of the soluble MMO from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath), to identify structural genes encoding this enzyme by oligonucleotide probing. The genes encoding the and subunits of MMO were found to be chromosomally located and were linked in this organism. We report here on the analysis of a recombinant plasmid containing 12 kilobases of Methylococcus DNA and provide the first evidence for the localization and linkage of genes encoding the methane monooxygenase enzyme complex. DNA sequence analysis suggests that the primary structures of the and subunit of MMO are completely novel and the complete sequence of these genes is presented.     

Genetic,biochemical and immunological evidence for the involvement of two alcohol dehydrogenases in the metabolism of propane by Rhodococcus rhodochrous PNKb1

NAD⁺-dependent propan-1-ol and propan-2-ol dehydrogenase activities were detected in cell-free extracts of Rhodococcus rhodochrous PNKb1 grown on propane and potential intermediates of propane oxidation. However, it was unclear whether this activity was mediated by one or more enzymes. The isolation of mutants unable to utilize propan-1-ol (alcA^-) or propan-2-ol (alcB^-) as sole carbon and energy sources demonstrated that these substrates are metabolized by different alcohol dehydrogenases. These mutants were also unable to utilize propane as a growth substrate indicating that both alcohols are intermediates of propane metabolism. Therefore, propane is metabolized by terminal and sub-terminal oxidation pathways. Westernblot analysis demonstrated that a previously purified NAD⁺-dependent propan-2-ol dehydrogenase (Ashraf and Murrell 1990) was only synthesized after growth on propane and sub-terminal oxidation intermediates (but not acetone), and not propan-1-ol or terminal oxidation intermediates. Therefore, our evidence suggest that another dehydrogenase is involved in the metabolism of propan-1-ol and this agrees with the isolation of the alcA^- and alcB^- phenotypes. The previously characterized NAD⁺-dependent propan-2-ol dehydrogenase from R. rhodochrous PNKb1 is highly conserved amongst members of the propane-utilizing Rhodococcus-Nocardia complex.     

A comparative description of mitochondrial DNA differentiation in selected avian and other vertebrate genera

Levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence divergence between species within each of several avian (Anas, Aythya, Dendroica, Melospiza, and Zonotrichia) and nonavian (Lepomis and Hyla) vertebrate genera were compared. An analysis of digestion profiles generated by 13-18 restriction endonucleases indicates little overlap in magnitude of mtDNA divergence for the avian versus nonavian taxa examined. In 55 interspecific comparisons among the avian congeners, the fraction of identical fragment lengths (F) ranged from 0.26 to 0.96 (F = 0.46), and, given certain assumptions, these translate into estimates of nucleotide sequence divergence (p) ranging from 0.007 to 0.088; in 46 comparisons among the fish and amphibian congeners, F values ranged from 0.00 to 0.36 (F = 0.09), yielding estimates of P greater than 0.070. The small mtDNA distances among avian congeners are associated with protein-electrophoretic distances (D values) less than approximately 0.2, while the mtDNA distances among assayed fish and amphibian congeners are associated with D values usually greater than 0.4. Since the conservative pattern of protein differentiation previously reported for many avian versus nonavian taxa now appears to be paralleled by a conservative pattern of mtDNA divergence, it seems increasingly likely that many avian species have shared more recent common ancestors than have their nonavian taxonomic counterparts. However, estimates of avian divergence times derived from mtDNA- and protein-calibrated clocks cannot readily be reconciled with some published dates based on limited fossil remains. If the earlier paleontological interpretations are valid, then protein and mtDNA evolution must be somewhat decelerated in birds. The empirical and conceptual issues raised by these findings are highly analogous to those in the long-standing debate about rates of molecular evolution and times of separation of ancestral hominids from African apes.      

Methods for computing the standard errors of branching points in an evolutionary tree and their application to molecular data from humans and apes

Statistical methods for computing the standard errors of the branching points of an evolutionary tree are developed. These methods are for the unweighted pair-group method-determined (UPGMA) trees reconstructed from molecular data such as amino acid sequences, nucleotide sequences, restriction-sites data, and electrophoretic distances. They were applied to data for the human, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon species. Among the four different sets of data used, DNA sequences for an 895-nucleotide segment of mitochondrial DNA (Brown et al. 1982) gave the most reliable tree, whereas electrophoretic data (Bruce and Ayala 1979) gave the least reliable one. The DNA sequence data suggested that the chimpanzee is the closest and that the gorilla is the next closest to the human species. The orangutan and gibbon are more distantly related to man than is the gorilla. This topology of the tree is in agreement with that for the tree obtained from chromosomal studies and DNA-hybridization experiments. However, the difference between the branching point for the human and the chimpanzee species and that for the gorilla species and the human-chimpanzee group is not statistically significant. In addition to this analysis, various factors that affect the accuracy of an estimated tree are discussed.      

Changes in density of DNA after interaction with dipicolinic acid and its possible role in spore heat resistance

We examined the effect of interacting dipicolinic acid and its calcium chelate on the wet and dry density of DNA. Complexes are produced whose densities are different from those of the individual components. Also, we observed two modes of binding, one strong the other weak, between DPA or CaDPA and DNA. The strength of the binding modes was reflected in the rate of dissolution of the complexes as monitored by changes in wet density with time and temperature. We conclude from these and other data in the literature that the interaction of dipicolinic acid with DNA not only influences the spore wet density and the ratio of core/core⁺ cortex volume, but may also influence the spore heat resistance.     

Trichinella spiralis in the black bear (Ursus americanus) of Pennsylvania: distribution, prevalence and intensity of infection

Samples of tongue or diaphragm from 2,056 black bears harvested in Pennsylvania during the 1981-1983 hunting seasons were examined for larvae of Trichinella spiralis by peptic digestion. Sixteen males and 21 females were infected. The overall prevalence of infection was 1.8%. Infected animals were distributed widely throughout the range of the bear in Pennsylvania. In samples from infected bears, the geometric mean density of muscle larvae was 7.8 per g of tissue (LPG). There were neither sex- nor age-related differences in prevalence or intensity of infection. Virtually all bears harvested in Pennsylvania are consumed as food, which often is shared widely among hunters, their friends and relatives. Furthermore, high densities of larvae occurred in some bears (i.e., 300, 348, 465, 512, 555, and 912 LPG). Thus, a basis for potential, single-source outbreaks of severe human trichinosis exists.     

Anonymous nuclear DNA markers in the American oyster and their implications for the heterozygote deficiency phenomenon in marine bivalves

A puzzling population-genetic phenomenon widely reported in allozyme surveys of marine bivalves is the occurrence of heterozygote deficits relative to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Possible explanations for this pattern are categorized with respect to whether the effects should be confined to protein-level assays or are genomically pervasive and expected to be registered in both protein- and DNA-level assays. Anonymous nuclear DNA markers from the American oyster were employed to reexamine the phenomenon. In assays based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), two DNA-level processes were encountered that can lead to artifactual genotypic scorings: (a) differential amplification of alleles at a target locus and (b) amplification from multiple paralogous loci. We describe symptoms of these complications and prescribe methods that should generally help to ameliorate them. When artifactual scorings at two anonymous DNA loci in the American oyster were corrected, Hardy-Weinberg deviations registered in preliminary population assays decreased to nonsignificant values. Implications of these findings for the heterozygote-deficit phenomenon in marine bivalves, and for the general development and use of PCR-based assays, are discussed.