Getting a grip on the intertidal: flow microhabitat and substratum type determine the dislodgement of the crab Pachygrapsus crassipes (Randall) on rocky shores and in estuaries

Hydrodynamic forces can affect survival as well as limit the movement of motile benthic animals. An animal's danger of dislodgement depends on the hydrodynamic forces it experiences in its microhabitat relative to the force required to dislodge it (tenacity) from the substratum. We measured water flow and substratum characteristics in two different habitats of the shore crab Pachygrapsus crassipes: a wave-swept rocky shore and an intertidal mudflat. The maximum water velocities and accelerations in the microhabitats of the crabs at the wave-swept site were three times and two times greater, respectively, than at the mudflat site. In the laboratory, we measured the tenacity of crabs of various sizes on different substrata, and also measured their drag, lift and added-mass coefficients. Using these data, we calculated the flow conditions under which crabs would be overturned or sheared off the substratum in their two habitats. The net horizontal force (drag plus acceleration reaction) required to dislodge a crab on a rugose rock substratum was an order of magnitude greater than on smooth rock and two orders of magnitude greater than on mud. Our calculations indicate that, under non-storm conditions, crabs will not be dislodged from the substratum in either the mudflat or the wave-swept habitat when grasping the substratum with maximum tenacity. Moving crabs have lower tenacity and our calculations predict that hydrodynamic forces will restrict the mobility of large crabs more than that of small ones on smooth, but not on rugose rock.     

Murine Cytomegalovirus m02 Gene Family Protects against Natural Killer Cell-Mediated Immune Surveillance

The murine cytomegalovirus m02 gene family encodes putative type I membrane glycoproteins named m02 through m16. A subset of these genes were fused to an epitope tag and cloned into an expression vector. In transfected and murine cytomegalovirus-infected cells, m02, m04, m05, m06, m07, m09, m10, and m12 localized to cytoplasmic structures near the nucleus, whereas m08 and m13 localized to a filamentous structure surrounding the nucleus. Substitution mutants lacking the m02 gene (SMsubm02) or the entire m02 gene family (SMsubm02-16) grew like their wild-type parent in cultured cells. However, whereas SMsubm02 was as pathogenic as the wild-type virus, SMsubm02-16 was markedly less virulent. SMsubm02-16 produced less infectious virus in most organs compared to wild-type virus in BALB/c and C57BL/6J mice, but it replicated to wild-type levels in the organs of immunodeficient gamma(c)/Rag2 mice, lacking multiple cell types including natural killer cells, and in C57BL/6J mice depleted of natural killer cells. These results argue that one or more members of the m02 gene family antagonize natural killer cell-mediated immune surveillance.     

Steroids excreted in urine by neonates with 21-hydroxylase deficiency: Characterization, using GC-MS and GC-MS/MS, of the D-ring and side chain structure of pregnanes and pregnenes

Steroid metabolites in urine from neonates with 21-hydroxylase deficiency are predominantly polyhydroxylated 17-hydroxyprogesterone and androgen metabolites, and most have incompletely defined structure. This study forms part of a comprehensive project to characterize and identify these in order to enhance diagnosis and to further elucidate neonatal types of steroid metabolism.Steroids were analyzed, after extraction and enzymatic conjugate hydrolysis, as methyloxime-trimethylsilyl ether derivatives on gas-chromatographs coupled to quadrupole and ion-trap mass-spectrometers. GC-MS and GC-MS/MS spectra, obtained with constant excitation conditions, were used together to determine the structure of the D-ring and the side chain of 20-oxo and 20-hydroxy pregnane(ene)s without oxo groups on the A-, B-, and C-ring.All possible combinations of D-ring and side chain configuration were considered. Most fragmentations could be interpreted as partial or complete D-ring cleavages with loss of the side chain, aided by comparison with spectra of deuterated derivatives and of borohydride reduced metabolites. Possible rearrangement ions are also discussed. More than 140 endogenous metabolites were characterized.GC-MS/MS was especially beneficial for characterization of compounds with 16,17-dihydroxy-20-oxo structure, interpreted as markers of intra-uterine enzyme induction. It also assisted the differentiation of 16-hydroxy-20-oxo metabolites, present in urine of non-affected neonates, from the diagnostic 17-hydroxy-20-oxosteroids and enabled the detection of 15,17-dihydroxy-20-oxo compounds in low concentrations. The presence of 17,21-dihydroxylated pregnane(ene)s despite the deficit in CYP21A2 is discussed.We conclude that GC-MS combined with GC-MS/MS allows reliable identification of the structure of the D-ring and side chain of pregnane(ene)s without prior isolation, even when in low concentrations in urine.     

Abnormal Intranuclear and Cytoplasmic Formations Associated with a Chemically Induced, Transplantable Chicken Sarcoma

Thirty GRCH/15 tumors (a 1, 2, 5, 6-dibenzanthracene-induced chicken sarcoma) were examined in the light and the electron microscope. Associated with the sarcoma were two types of abnormal intranuclear lesions, one in the form of a vacuole, the other as an aggregate containing glycogen. In the electron microscope, one type of lesion observed showed an organized microfibrillar structure. Abnormal cytoplasmic formations occurred as massed clusters of thread-like or tubular material, which gave rise to small bodies with concentric shell structure; similar bodies were found associated with vacuoles.     

Associations of esterase 6 allozyme and activity variation with reproductive fitness inDrosophila melanogaster

Previous studies have shown that the esterase 6 (EST6) enzyme ofD. melanogaster is mainly produced in the sperm ejaculatory duct of the adult male and comparisons of wild-type males with laboratory null mutants have suggested that the enzyme plays a role in reproductive fitness. In this study we have compared 18 field-derived lines each isoallelic forEst6 for differences in five components of male reproductive fitness. No consistent fitness differences were found among lines differing in respect of the two major allozyme classes EST6-F and EST6-S, despite other evidence that these two classes are not selectively equivalent in the field. However, differences in reproductive fitness were found among lines differing in the minor mobility variants that segregate within EST6-F and EST6-S. A failure to distinguish among these minor forms may explain the discrepancies in previous studies on the effects of the major EST6 allozymes on reproductive fitness. The most significant associations we have found between EST6 and reproductive fitness were due to variation in EST6 activity levels. Male EST6 activity levels were found to be positively correlated with their time to first mating, negatively correlated with the numbers of eggs laid and progeny produced by their mates, and negatively correlated with the frequency with which their mates remate. We conclude that some EST6 variants differ in components of male reproductive fitness operative in laboratory cultures. However, the evidence for fitness differences is stronger for variants affecting the amount, rather than the structure of the enzyme, and the direction of the differences varies between some of the fitness components tested.     

Ectomycorrhizal diversity on the roots of Pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.) saplings as influenced by remediation and soil metal content

From 1913 to 1980, two zinc smelters in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, emitted large quantities of atmospheric pollutants nearly eliminating forests along a ridge above the town. In 2008, a remediation treatment was applied to the land above one of the smelters that included the planting of several locally adapted plant species. It also included mineral fertilization and mycorrhizal inoculation. One of the species, the Pitch pine (Pinus rigida, Mill.), is a native tree that is both tolerant of metalliferous soils and obligatorily ectomycorrhizal. This report summarizes the results of two observational studies conducted 5 years after the remediation treatment. The first study's objective was to compare ectomycorrhizal communities on treated Pitch pine saplings, with communities on naturally regenerating saplings in an adjacent non-remediated area. The second study's objective was to determine if the composition of the fungal communities on root tips of naturally regenerating Pitch pine saplings differed with distance from the smelters. Fungal community compositions were determined using internal transcribed spacer rRNA sequences. Comparisons of sequences from the remediated and non-remediated sites revealed that communities at the remediated sites had lower taxonomic diversity and were dominated by members of a genus in the remediation inoculant. The results of the smelter-proximity study indicated that although fungal diversity did not differ markedly with distance from the smelters, the relative abundances of some taxa were greater on saplings growing directly above the smelters, where the soils contained highest concentrations of zinc and cadmium.     

The direction of mothers' and daughters' preferences and the heritability of male ornaments in red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus)

We used a breeding design involving 18 sires and 108 dams tostudy the heritabilities of male ornaments in red jungle fowl(Gallus gallus). Ornaments used by females to choose mates showedlow heritabilities, with the exception of comb and wattle measures.The general absence of heritability suggests that a geneticcovariance did not exist at the time of this study between mostmale ornaments and female preferences for those ornaments. Thisresult is contrary to a key prediction of the arbitrary or Fisherianhypothesis of sexual selection. Comb size and color are condition-dependenttraits that reflect short-term changes in health, and comb sizeof males was positively correlated with offspring weight. Ourresults are consistent with the expectation of good-genes hypothesesthat male ornaments reflect the ability of males to withstandenvironmental stresses.     

Repeatability of mate choice in female red jungle fowl

We staged female mate choice trials between pairs of males andrepeated the process for each female to determine the repeatabilityof female preference for males in red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus)in the first and second half of the breeding season. We measuredmale morphological traits (the size and color of the comb andthe brightness of the hackle feathers) that females are knownto use in choosing a mate. In the first half of the breedingseason, females showed repeatability in their choices of matewith respect to the male's comb characters. Females did notshow a repeatable preference with respect to male hackle feathers,and we found no repeatability of mate choice in the second halfof the season. Females seem to primarily look at the male'scomb when choosing a mate, and other ornaments seem only ofsecondary importance.[Behav Ecol 7: 243-246 (1996)]     

Regulation of inositol monophosphatase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Inositol monophosphatase is a key enzyme in the de novo biosynthesis of inositol and in the phosphoinositide second-messenger signalling pathway. Inhibition of this enzyme is a proposed mechanism for lithium's pharmacological action in bipolar illness (manic depression). Very little is known about how expression of this enzyme is regulated. Because the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been shown to be an excellent model system in which to understand the regulation of inositol metabolism, we characterized inositol monophosphatase in this yeast. Lithium inhibited monophosphatase activity in vitro . Growth in the presence of inositol resulted in increased expression of the enzyme in vivo , although inositol had no effect on enzyme activity in vitro . The inositol effect was apparent when cells were grown in glucose but not in glycerol/ethanol. Monophosphatase activity was derepressed as cells entered stationary phase. This effect was apparent only during growth in glucose plus inositol. The results demonstrate that S. cerevisiae monophosphatase is inhibited by lithium and regulated by factors affecting phospholipid biosynthesis.