Complex patterns of grooming and sexual activity in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

Grooming in primates is often considered a “currency” that can be exchanged for other “services” or “commodities” such as reciprocal grooming, coalitionary support, infant handling, tolerance around food sources, active food sharing, or mating opportunities. Previous studies on primate grooming‐for‐sex exchange viewed the males as the demanding class, with the females as suppliers of mating opportunities. In this study, we examine the broader context of grooming‐for‐mating exchange in Barbary macaques in Gibraltar. Our data show that Barbary macaque males groom females with whom they are mating more frequently and for longer periods than other females, and the relationship between grooming and mating remains significant in both sexual and nonsexual contexts. In addition, females groomed males with whom they were mating more frequently and for longer periods than other males. In both sexes, grooming was observed to be far more frequent and to occur for longer durations in sexual compared to nonsexual contexts. We did not find any difference in grooming behavior between presexual and postsexual contexts. Our data suggest that there is no simple model to describe Barbary macaque grooming patterns in sexual contexts. Although our results are partly consistent with male use of grooming as payment for mating, broadly assessed grooming‐mating patterns cannot be solely explained by a male‐driven grooming‐for‐mating exchange.     

Conserved DNA Motifs,Including the CENP-B Box-like,Are Possible Promoters of Satellite DNA Array Rearrangements in Nematodes

Tandemly arrayed non-coding sequences or satellite DNAs (satDNAs) are rapidly evolving segments of eukaryotic genomes, including the centromere, and may raise a genetic barrier that leads to speciation. However, determinants and mechanisms of satDNA sequence dynamics are only partially understood. Sequence analyses of a library of five satDNAs common to the root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne chitwoodi and M. fallax together with a satDNA, which is specific for M. chitwoodi only revealed low sequence identity (32–64%) among them. However, despite sequence differences, two conserved motifs were recovered. One of them turned out to be highly similar to the CENP-B box of human alpha satDNA, identical in 10–12 out of 17 nucleotides. In addition, organization of nematode satDNAs was comparable to that found in alpha satDNA of human and primates, characterized by monomers concurrently arranged in simple and higher-order repeat (HOR) arrays. In contrast to alpha satDNA, phylogenetic clustering of nematode satDNA monomers extracted either from simple or from HOR array indicated frequent shuffling between these two organizational forms. Comparison of homogeneous simple arrays and complex HORs composed of different satDNAs, enabled, for the first time, the identification of conserved motifs as obligatory components of monomer junctions. This observation highlights the role of short motifs in rearrangements, even among highly divergent sequences. Two mechanisms are proposed to be involved in this process, i.e., putative transposition-related cut-and-paste insertions and/or illegitimate recombination. Possibility for involvement of the nematode CENP-B box-like sequence in the transposition-related mechanism and together with previously established similarity of the human CENP-B protein and pogo-like transposases implicate a novel role of the CENP-B box and related sequence motifs in addition to the known function in centromere protein binding.     

Molecular heterogeneity of D-end products detected by anti-H-2.28 sera

Immunoprecipitation of NP-40 lysates of 125I-labeled lymph-node cells with different anti-H-2 sera and with anti-Qa-2 serum has shown that the BALB/cByA strain (H-2d, Qa-2-negative) expresses, besides H-2Ld, another molecule that is not detectable in the BALB/c-H-2dm2 strain. Electrophoresis in SDS polyacrylamide gels indicated that this molecule, provisionally designated Lq, has an apparent molecular weight of 41000 daltons, in contrast to approximately 49000 daltons for H-2Kd and H-2Ld, and 47000 daltons for H-2Dd molecules. The anti-Qa-2 serum precipitated from the Qa-2-positive strains BALB/cHeA but not from the Qa-2-negative strains BALB/cByA and BALB/c-H-2dm2 a protein that gave a very strong band corresponding to the molecular weight 41000 daltons in the gel electrophoresis. The biochemical characteristics of the Lq molecule are thus more similar to those of Qa-2 than of H-2 antigens.     

Snapshot prediction of carbon productivity,carbon and protein content in a Southern Ocean diatom using FTIR spectroscopy

Diatoms, an important group of phytoplankton, bloom annually in the Southern Ocean, covering thousands of square kilometers and dominating the region''s phytoplankton communities. In their role as the major food source to marine grazers, diatoms supply carbon, nutrients and energy to the Southern Ocean food web. Prevailing environmental conditions influence diatom phenotypic traits (for example, photophysiology, macromolecular composition and morphology), which in turn affect the transfer of energy, carbon and nutrients to grazers and higher trophic levels, as well as oceanic biogeochemical cycles. The paucity of phenotypic data on Southern Ocean phytoplankton limits our understanding of the ecosystem and how it may respond to future environmental change. Here we used a novel approach to create a ‘snapshot'' of cell phenotype. Using mass spectrometry, we measured nitrogen (a proxy for protein), total carbon and carbon-13 enrichment (carbon productivity), then used this data to build spectroscopy-based predictive models. The models were used to provide phenotypic data for samples from a third sample set. Importantly, this approach enabled the first ever rate determination of carbon productivity from a single time point, circumventing the need for time-series measurements. This study showed that Chaetoceros simplex was less productive and had lower protein and carbon content during short-term periods of high salinity. Applying this new phenomics approach to natural phytoplankton samples could provide valuable insight into understanding phytoplankton productivity and function in the marine system.     

Habitat deterioration promotes the evolution of direct development in metamorphosing species

Although metamorphosis is widespread in the animal kingdom, several species have evolved life-cycle modifications to avoid complete metamorphosis. Some species, for example, many salamanders and newts, have deleted the adult stage via a process called paedomorphosis. Others, for example, some frog species and marine invertebrates, no longer have a distinct larval stage and reach maturation via direct development. Here we study which ecological conditions can lead to the loss of metamorphosis via the evolution of direct development. To do so, we use size-structured consumer-resource models in conjunction with the adaptive-dynamics approach. In case the larval habitat deteriorates, individuals will produce larger offspring and in concert accelerate metamorphosis. Although this leads to the evolutionary transition from metamorphosis to direct development when the adult habitat is highly favorable, the population will go extinct in case the adult habitat does not provide sufficient food to escape metamorphosis. With a phylogenetic approach we furthermore show that among amphibians the transition of metamorphosis to direct development is indeed, in line with model predictions, conditional on and preceded by the evolution of larger egg sizes.     

“Self” and “Non-Self” in the Control of Phytoalexin Biosynthesis: Plant Phospholipases A2 with Alkaloid-Specific Molecular Fingerprints

The overproduction of specialized metabolites requires plants to manage the inherent burdens, including the risk of self-intoxication. We present a control mechanism that stops the expression of phytoalexin biosynthetic enzymes by blocking the antecedent signal transduction cascade. Cultured cells of Eschscholzia californica (Papaveraceae) and Catharanthus roseus (Apocynaceae) overproduce benzophenanthridine alkaloids and monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, respectively, in response to microbial elicitors. In both plants, an elicitor-responsive phospholipase A2 (PLA2) at the plasma membrane generates signal molecules that initiate the induction of biosynthetic enzymes. The final alkaloids produced in the respective plant inhibit the respective PLA, a negative feedback that prevents continuous overexpression. The selective inhibition by alkaloids from the class produced in the “self” plant could be transferred to leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana via recombinant expression of PLA2. The 3D homology model of each PLA2 displays a binding pocket that specifically accommodates alkaloids of the class produced by the same plant, but not of the other class; for example, C. roseus PLA2 only accommodates C. roseus alkaloids. The interaction energies of docked alkaloids correlate with their selective inhibition of PLA2 activity. The existence in two evolutionary distant plants of phospholipases A2 that discriminate “self-made” from “foreign” alkaloids reveals molecular fingerprints left in signal enzymes during the evolution of species-specific, cytotoxic phytoalexins.     

A membrane-associated form of C-reactive protein is the galactose-specific particle receptor on rat liver macrophages

Rat liver macrophages express a galactose-specific receptor which mediates endocytosis of particles or neuraminidase-treated blood cells. From rat serum we now have isolated and purified a galactose-specific lectin by affinity chromatography. Comparative analysis of this serum galactose-binding protein with the galactose-particle receptor protein purified from rat liver macrophages and with C-reactive protein (CRP) reveals close relation or identity of these proteins. An apparent m.w. of 30,000 was determined for all three proteins by SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions and m.w. of about 130,000 by native PAGE. All three proteins exhibit the same pentameric, ring-shaped structure in electron microscopy after negative staining. Antibodies raised against the serum galactose-binding protein or against the macrophage receptor cross-react. A mAb specific for rat neo-CRP labels liver macrophages but not hepatocytes and reacts with the isolated protein in a Western blot assay. Furthermore, the galactose-particle receptor can be functionally replaced by purified CRP: the binding capacity for neuraminidase-treated E of receptor-depleted liver macrophages can be restored by preincubation with purified rat CRP. We therefore conclude that CRP occurs as a membrane-associated protein constitutively expressed on liver macrophages functioning as a receptor mediating galactose-specific binding of particulate ligands.