Highly specialized Cretaceous beetle parasitoids (Ripiphoridae) identified with optimized visualization of microstructures

Extremely miniaturized longipedes insects (body length c. 0.3 mm) embedded in two pieces of Cretaceous amber from Myanmar are described and interpreted. Using inverted fluorescence and light microscopy for detailed analysis of microstructures, the inclusions were identified as primary larvae of the beetle family Ripiphoridae, subfamily Ripidiinae. While the structure of thoracic and abdominal segments including appendages corresponds well with the groundplan known in recent members of Ripidiinae, a curved prosternal ridge with prominent spines (each c. 5 μm), the reduced condition of stemmata and antennae and the lack of sharp mandibles are unique features within the entire family, apparently apomorphies of the longipedes larvae. A sinuate prosternal edge with a dense row of spines (prosternoctenidium) might be homologous with ‘head ctenidia’ in some previously described miniaturized conicocephalate larvae, but further investigation is needed. The morphological differences between the head of longipedes larvae and extant Ripidiinae are interpreted as adaptations to different groups of hosts and life strategies. Palaeoethology of the longipedes larvae is briefly discussed. In addition, the systematic placement of conicocephalate larvae from Canadian, Myanmar and Russian Cretaceous ambers, already interpreted by various authors as primary instars within Coleopterida (assigned to either Strepsiptera or to the coleopteran Tenebrionoidea: Ripiphoridae), is discussed.     

Comparative mineral and hormonal analyses of wild type and TLS somaclonal variant derived from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. tenera) tissue culture

Comparative mineral and hormonal analyses were made on tissue culture derived truncated leaf syndrome and wild type oil palm seedlings. Mineral analysis confirmed that Boron, Zinc and chlorophyll levels were significantly lower in truncated leaf syndrome leaves than those of wild type. Hormonal analysis also revealed various cytokinin derivatives such as trans-zeatin, trans-zeatin riboside, trans-zeatin O-glucoside and trans-zeatin riboside 5??mono phosphate were significantly higher in truncated leaf syndrome leaves compared to wild type leaves. Brassinolide level was also significantly higher in truncated leaf syndrome leaves than those of the wild type. These observations suggest that the truncated leaf syndrome abnormality could be associated to high cytokinin and brassinosteroid production which affects the uptake of Boron and Zinc.     

Empirical testing of cryoconite granulation: Role of cyanobacteria in the formation of key biogenic structure darkening glaciers in polar regions

Cryoconite, the dark sediment on the surface of glaciers, often aggregates into oval or irregular granules serving as biogeochemical factories. They reduce a glacier's albedo, act as biodiversity hotspots by supporting aerobic and anaerobic microbial communities, constitute one of the organic matter (OM) sources on glaciers, and are a feeder for micrometazoans. Although cryoconite granules have multiple roles on glaciers, their formation is poorly understood. Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous and abundant engineers of cryoconite hole ecosystems. This study tested whether cyanobacteria may be responsible for cryoconite granulation as a sole biotic element. Incubation of Greenlandic, Svalbard, and Scandinavian cyanobacteria in different nutrient availabilities and substrata for growth (distilled water alone and water with quartz powder, furnaced cryoconite without OM, or powdered rocks from glacial catchment) revealed that cyanobacteria bind mineral particles into granules. The structures formed in the experiment resembled those commonly observed in natural cryoconite holes: they contained numerous cyanobacterial filaments protruding from aggregated mineral particles. Moreover, all examined strains were confirmed to produce extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which suggests that cryoconite granulation is most likely due to EPS secretion by gliding cyanobacteria. In the presence of water as the only substrate for growth, cyanobacteria formed mostly carpet-like mats. Our data empirically prove that EPS-producing oscillatorialean cyanobacteria isolated from the diverse community of cryoconite microorganisms can form granules from mineral substrate and that the presence of the mineral substrate increases the probability of the formation of these important and complex biogeochemical microstructures on glaciers.     

Genes encoding alpha-heavy chains of rabbit IgA: characterization of cDNA encoding IgA-g subclass alpha-chains

cDNA molecules encoding rabbit IgA alpha-heavy chains have been synthesized and six of these have been characterized. The complete nucleotide sequence of one cDNA, p 19 (942bp), showed that it encoded all but the N-terminal 57 amino acid residues of the constant region of alpha-chains. The cDNA molecules were subcloned into the expression vector pUC8 and E. coli were transformed. Radioimmunoassay of the molecules synthesized by these clones showed that all six cDNA molecules encoded alpha-chains of the IgA-g subclass. Comparison of the amino acids encoded by the alpha-cDNA with the amino acid sequence of mouse and human alpha-chains showed that although all of the intradomain disulfide bonds appear to be conserved, some positions, probably involved in interchain disulfide bonds, are not conserved. We propose that secretory component is covalently bound to cysteine 299 and/or cysteine 301 of the CH2 domain of mouse and human alpha-chains. The results from Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA with 32P-cDNA suggests that the rabbit genome has multiple C alpha genes.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis> response regulator ARR22 is a putative AHP phospho-histidine phosphatase expressed in the chalaza of developing seeds

Background  

The Arabidopsis response regulator 22 (ARR22) is one of two members of a recently defined novel group of two-component system (TCS) elements. TCSs are stimulus perception and response modules of prokaryotic origin, which signal by a His-to-Asp phosphorelay mechanism. In plants, TCS regulators are involved in hormone response pathways, such as those for cytokinin and ethylene. While the functions of the other TCS elements in Arabidopsis, such as histidine kinases (AHKs), histidine-containing phosphotransfer proteins (AHPs) and A-type and B-type ARRs are becoming evident, the role of ARR22 is poorly understood.     

Choosing the right sigmoid growth function using the unified‐models approach

Growth of the young is an important part of the life history in birds. However, modelling methods have paid little attention to the choice of regression model used to describe its pattern. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a single sigmoid model with an upper asymptote could describe avian growth adequately. We compared unified versions of five growth models of the Richards family (the four‐parameter U‐Richards and the three‐parameter U‐logistic, U‐Gompertz, U‐Bertalanffy and U4‐models) for three traits (body mass, tarsus‐length and wing‐length) for 50 passerine species, including species with varied morphologies and life histories. The U‐family models exhibit a unified set of parameters for all models. The four‐parameter U‐Richards model proved a good choice for fitting growth curves to various traits – its extra d‐parameter allows for a flexible placement of the inflection point. Which of the three‐parameter U‐models was the best performing varied greatly between species and between traits, as each three‐parameter model had a different fixed relative inflection value (fraction of the upper asymptote), implying a different growth pattern. Fixing the asymptotes to averages for adult trait value generally shifted the model preference towards one with lower relative inflection values. Our results illustrate an overlooked difficulty in the analysis of organismal growth, namely, that a single traditional three‐parameter model does not suit all growth data. This is mostly due to differences in inflection placement. Moreover, some biometric traits require more attention when estimating growth rates and other growth‐curve characteristics. We recommend fitting either several three‐parameter models from the U‐family, where the parameters are comparable between models, or only the U‐Richards model.     

When a key innovation becomes redundant: Patterns,drivers and consequences of elytral reduction in Coleoptera

The transformation of the fore wings into strongly sclerotized protective covers (elytra) is considered a fundamental evolutionary innovation of the megadiverse order Coleoptera. Surprisingly, these multifunctional structures have been reduced in many distantly related groups of beetles. Patterns, drivers and the evolutionary implications of this modification have never been comprehensively discussed. In the present study, we surveyed the entire order Coleoptera to analyse the patterns of elytral shortening and loss, with a special focus on prevalence, forms, degree of reduction and the functional background of this significant deviation from the coleopteran ground plan. Our analysis revealed that about 20% of all extant species (roughly 88,000 out of 442,275 spp.), distributed across all four suborders, have shortened or even absent elytra. The elytral loss was more frequent within the polyphagan series Elateriformia and Staphyliniformia. Moreover, we found that elytral reduction has independently occurred multiple times in the evolutionary history of Coleoptera and that it has been driven by a wide array of selective drivers. One of the main drivers is the improved flexibility of the uncovered abdomen and the correlated increased manoeuvrability in narrow spaces, as well as the option of using the flexible abdomen as a steering organ or to facilitate mating. Another common driver is mimicry, where exposed metathoracic wings potentially improve the overall similarity to hymenopteran models. Exposure of the abdomen can facilitate the targeted release of defensive abdominal gland secretions and was most likely a crucial step towards establishing relations with social insects enhanced by chemical communication. In the Elateriformia, and rarely in other lineages, elytral loss is a consequence of paedomorphosis, related to a specific resource-allocation strategy. In many groups of beetles with reduced elytra, alternative defensive strategies can be found. This includes, for instance, aposematic coloration, chemical defence, mimicry or bioluminescence. Direct drivers of elytral loss in many groups remain unclear, and more studies are needed to understand the evolutionary background and implications of this significant morphological modification in Coleoptera.