Influence of Hydrocortisone on Chick Embryo Retina Development

Treatment of chick embryos in ovo with hydrocortisone-21-phosphate (a single dose of 150 micrograms) caused a marked reduction of retinal thymidine kinase activity 24 h later. The inhibitory effect was highest (65-70%) in 8-10-day-old embryos and declined with age, disappearing after day 15. It was accompanied by a reduction in thickness of the retinal layers. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) treatment (10 micrograms daily for 2 days) also produced an age-dependent inhibitory effect on retinal thymidine kinase, whereas treatment with a single dose of 200 micrograms of metopirone, a compound that prevents the 11 beta-hydroxylation of steroid molecules in the adrenal glands, impeded the decrease in thymidine kinase activity that normally occurs in chick embryo retina after day 9 of development. In addition, metopirone prevented the inhibition exerted by ACTH on thymidine kinase activity but had no effect on the action of hydrocortisone.     

Abundance and diversity of planktonic rotifers in the Po River

Zooplankton samples from the middle reach of the Po River were collected daily from 27 July to 24 August 1988 from a station located near Viadana. Changes in the biocoenosis structure were analyzed in relation to variations in flow rate. Rotifers accounted for more than 99% of the total zooplankton (protozoans excluded) in every sample. The dominant species were Brachionus calyciflorus, Brachionus bennini, Brachionus budapestinensis and Epiphanes macrourus. Under scanty flow conditions, the taxocoenosis showed marked stability. An increase in flow rate acts as a disturbance factor leading to a significant decrease in both total density and dominance.     

Evidence for the lateral intraparietal area as the parietal eye field.

It has long been appreciated that the posterior parietal cortex plays a role in the processing of saccadic eye movements. Only recently has it been discovered that a small cortical area, the lateral intraparietal area, within this much larger area appears to be specialized for saccadic eye movements. Unlike other cortical areas in the posterior parietal cortex, the lateral intraparietal area has strong anatomical connections to other saccade centers, and its cells have saccade-related responses that begin before the saccades. The lateral intraparietal area appears to be neither a strictly visual nor strictly motor structure; rather it performs visuomotor integration functions including determining the spatial location of saccade targets and forming plans to make eye movements.     

Extensive exchange of rat liver microsomal phospholipids

Liver microsomal fractions were prepared from rats injected with a single dose of choline [¹⁴C] methylchloride or with single or multiple doses of ³²P_i. Exchangeability of microsomal phospholipids was determined by incubation with an excess of mitochondria and phospholipid exchange proteins derived from beef heart, beef liver or rat liver. Labeled phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol were found to act as a single pool and were 85–95% exchangeable in 1–2 h. High latencies of mannose-6-phosphate phosphohydrolase activities and impermeability of microsomes to EDTA proved that phospholipid exchange proteins did not have access to the intracisternal space. If microsomal membranes are largely composed of phospholipid bilayers, the experiments suggest that one or more of the phospholipid classes in microsomal membranes undergo rapid translocation between the inner and outer portions of the bilayer.     

Amiloride-sensitive Na+ pathways in capillary endothelial cell swelling during hemorrhagic shock.

We recently discovered that the endothelium of skeletal muscle capillaries swells in the low-flow ischemia induced by hemorrhagic shock. The present study was undertaken to determine the Na+ transmembrane pathways involved in this swelling, since hypoxic cell swelling is attributed to an influx of Na+ and water. In an initial series of experiments, amiloride (5 mg/kg body wt), which blocks multiple Na+ pathways, was infused intravenously into anesthetized rabbits 30 min prior to shock (40% single-withdrawal hemorrhage). Intravital microscopy of treated capillaries in the rabbit tenuissimus muscle showed that after a 1-h shock period, there was no endothelial cell swelling, as evidenced by no measurable change in the width of red blood cells traversing the capillary. In contrast, the swollen endothelium of untreated capillaries reduced the luminal diameter by 20-25% with a preserved stationary abluminal membrane. The specific effects of amiloride on Na+ transport were investigated with amiloride analogues. Animal pretreatment with 5-(N,N-hexamethylene)amiloride, a selective inhibitor of Na(+)-H+ activity, in a dose of 0.5 mg/kg did not significantly mitigate shock-induced swelling; however, a dose of 1 mg/kg completely prevented it. Phenamil, a selective inhibitor of Na+ channel conductance, even at a potent dosage of 0.5 mg/kg, did not affect swelling. These results suggest a primary role for Na(+)-H+ exchange in endothelial cell swelling during hemorrhagic shock, possibly as a means to regulate cellular pH, which may become acidic during ischemia. Narrowed capillaries with elevated hydraulic resistances could delay and diminish resumption of microcirculatory flow on shock resuscitation.     

Mechanistic insights into the role of large carnivores for ecosystem structure and functioning

Large carnivores can exert top–down effects in ecosystems, but the size of these effects are largely unknown. Empirical investigation on the importance of large carnivores for ecosystem structure and functioning presents a number of challenges due to the large spatio-temporal scale and the complexity of such dynamics. Here, we applied a mechanistic global ecosystem model to investigate the influence of large-carnivore removal from undisturbed ecosystems. First, we simulated large-carnivore removal on the global scale to inspect the geographic pattern of top–down control and to disentangle the functional role of large carnivores in top–down control in different environmental contexts. Second, we conducted four small-scale ecosystem simulation experiments to understand direct and indirect changes in food-web structure under different environmental conditions. We found that the removal of top–down control exerted by large carnivores (> 21 kg) can trigger large trophic cascades, leading to an overall decrease in autotroph biomass globally. Furthermore, the loss of large carnivores resulted in an increase of mesopredators. The magnitude of these changes was positively related to primary productivity (NPP), in line with the ‘exploitation ecosystem hypothesis’. In addition, we found that seasonality in NPP dampened the magnitude of change following the removal of large carnivores. Our results reinforce the idea that large carnivores play a fundamental role in shaping ecosystems, and further declines and extinctions can trigger substantial ecosystem responses. Our findings also support previous studies suggesting that natural ecosystem dynamics have been severely modified and are still changing as a result of the widespread decline and extinction of large carnivores.     

Testing the short-term effects of a fish invader on the trophic ecology of a closely related species

The effects of invaders on native species are usually tested using species mean trait values over long time scales. However, considering individual variation over short timescales can help us better understand the interaction between invaders and native species. We compared trophic traits of the non-native guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and the native Brazilian poeciliid Phalloceros harpagos using experiments simulating the early stages of an invasive process. We used short-term mesocosms to simulate an early invasion scenario, where the two species were placed together, and a pre-invasion scenario, where species were kept separated, and analyzed interspecific and intraspecific trophic variability. We also compared the foraging efficiency of species in laboratory experiments. We found no differences on the mean diet of both species between pre and early invasion treatments. At the individual level, in the early invasion scenario, individuals of both species reduced their trophic niche as a probable effect of the presence of the heterospecific. Phalloceros harpagos had higher consumption rates than guppies indicating greater efficiency in feeding on invertebrates. Our results suggest that non-native species were not intrinsically better consumers of high-quality resources. Instead, intraspecific variation might be playing an overlooked role in shaping interactions between species during the early stages of invasion.

     

Next Generation Semiconductor Based-Sequencing of a Nutrigenetics Target Gene (GPR120) and Association with Growth Rate in Italian Large White Pigs

The GPR120 gene (also known as FFAR4 or O3FAR1) encodes for a functional omega-3 fatty acid receptor/sensor that mediates potent insulin sensitizing effects by repressing macrophage-induced tissue inflammation. For its functional role, GPR120 could be considered a potential target gene in animal nutrigenetics. In this work we resequenced the porcine GPR120 gene by high throughput Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing of amplified fragments obtained from 8 DNA pools derived, on the whole, from 153 pigs of different breeds/populations (two Italian Large White pools, Italian Duroc, Italian Landrace, Casertana, Pietrain, Meishan, and wild boars). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), two synonymous substitutions and one in the putative 3′-untranslated region (g.114765469C > T), were identified and their allele frequencies were estimated by sequencing reads count. The g.114765469C > T SNP was also genotyped by PCR-RFLP confirming estimated frequency in Italian Large White pools. Then, this SNP was analyzed in two Italian Large White cohorts using a selective genotyping approach based on extreme and divergent pigs for back fat thickness (BFT) estimated breeding value (EBV) and average daily gain (ADG) EBV. Significant differences of allele and genotype frequencies distribution was observed between the extreme ADG-EBV groups (P < 0.001) whereas this marker was not associated with BFT-EBV.