Beverage specific alcohol intake in a population-based study: Evidence for a positive association between pulmonary function and wine intake

Background  

Lung function is a strong predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Previous studies suggest that alcohol exposure may be linked to impaired pulmonary function through oxidant-antioxidant mechanisms. Alcohol may be an important source of oxidants; however, wine contains several antioxidants. In this study we analyzed the relation of beverage specific alcohol intake with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) and forced vital capacity (FVC) in a random sample of 1555 residents of Western New York, USA.     

Interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha,and transforming growth factor-beta 1 and integrative meniscal repair: influences on meniscal cell proliferation and migration

Introduction  

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are up-regulated in injured and osteoarthritic knee joints. IL-1 and TNF-α inhibit integrative meniscal repair; however, the mechanisms by which this inhibition occurs are not fully understood. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) increases meniscal cell proliferation and accumulation, and enhances integrative meniscal repair. An improved understanding of the mechanisms modulating meniscal cell proliferation and migration will help to improve approaches for enhancing intrinsic or tissue-engineered repair of the meniscus. The goal of this study was to examine the hypothesis that IL-1 and TNF-α suppress, while TGF-β1 enhances, cellular proliferation and migration in cell and tissue models of meniscal repair.     

Rapid evolution and the genomic consequences of selection against interspecific mating

While few species introduced into a new environment become invasive, those that do provide critical information on ecological mechanisms that determine invasions success and the evolutionary responses that follow invasion. Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito) was introduced into the naturalized range of Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito) in the United States in the mid‐1980s, resulting in the displacement of A. aegypti in much of the south‐eastern United States. The rapid displacement was likely due to the superior competitive ability of A. albopictus as larvae and asymmetric mating interference competition, in which male A. albopictus mate with and sterilize A. aegypti females, a process called “satyrization.” The goal of this study was to examine the genomic responses of a resident species to an invasive species in which the mechanism of character displacement is understood. We used double‐digest restriction enzyme DNA sequencing (ddRADseq) to analyse outlier loci between selected and control lines of laboratory‐reared A. aegypti females from two populations (Tucson, AZ and Key West, Florida, USA), and individual females classified as either “resisted” or “mated with” A. albopictus males via mating trials of wild‐derived females from four populations in Florida. We found significant outlier loci in comparing selected and control lines and between mated and nonmated A. aegypti females in the laboratory and wild‐derived populations, respectively. We found overlap in specific outlier loci between different source populations that support consistent genomic signatures of selection within A. aegypti. Our results point to regions of the A. aegypti genome and potential candidate genes that may be involved in mating behaviour, and specifically in avoiding interspecific mating choices.     

Aspidosperma (Apocynaceae) plant cytotoxicity and activity towards malaria parasites. Part II: experimental studies with Aspidosperma ramiflorum in vivo and in vitro

Several species of Aspidosperma plants are used to treat diseases in the tropics, including Aspidosperma ramiflorum, which acts against leishmaniasis, an activity that is experimentally confirmed. The species, known as guatambu-yellow, yellow peroba, coffee-peroba andmatiambu, grows in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil in the South to the Southeast regions. Through a guided biofractionation of A. ramiflorum extracts, the plant activity against Plasmodium falciparum was evaluated in vitro for toxicity towards human hepatoma G2 cells, normal monkey kidney cells and nonimmortalised human monocytes isolated from peripheral blood. Six of the seven extracts tested were active at low doses (half-maximal drug inhibitory concentration < 3.8 µg/mL); the aqueous extract was inactive. Overall, the plant extracts and the purified compounds displayed low toxicity in vitro. A nonsoluble extract fraction and one purified alkaloid isositsirikine (compound 5) displayed high selectivity indexes (SI) (= 56 and 113, respectively), whereas compounds 2 and 3 were toxic (SI < 10). The structure, activity and low toxicity of isositsirikine in vitro are described here for the first time in A. ramiflorum, but only the neutral and precipitate plant fractions were tested for activity, which caused up to 53% parasitaemia inhibition of Plasmodium berghei in mice with blood-induced malaria. This plant species is likely to be useful in the further development of an antimalarial drug, but its pharmacological evaluation is still required.     

Invasive Plants as Foci of Mosquito-Borne Pathogens: Red Cedar in the Southern Great Plains of the USA

EcoHealth - West Nile virus (WNV) is the most significant mosquito-borne disease affecting humans in the United States. Eastern redcedar (ERC) is a native encroaching plant in the southern Great...     

Patterns of population genetic variation in sympatric chiltoniid amphipods within a calcrete aquifer reveal a dynamic subterranean environment

Calcrete aquifers from the Yilgarn region of arid central Western Australia contain an assemblage of obligate groundwater invertebrate species that are each endemic to single aquifers. Fine-scale phylogeographic and population genetic analyses of three sympatric and independently derived species of amphipod (Chiltoniidae) were carried out to determine whether there were common patterns of population genetic structure or evidence for past geographic isolation of populations within a single calcrete aquifer. Genetic diversity in amphipod mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene) and allozymes were examined across a 3.5 km² region of the Sturt Meadows calcrete, which contains a grid of 115 bore holes (=wells). Stygobiont amphipods were found to have high levels of mitochondrial haplotype diversity coupled with low nucleotide diversity. Mitochondrial phylogeographic structuring was found between haplogroups for one of the chiltoniid species, which also showed population structuring for nuclear markers. Signatures of population expansion in two of the three species, match previous findings for diving beetles at the same site, indicating that the system is dynamic. We propose isolation of populations in refugia within the calcrete, followed by expansion events, as the most likely source of intraspecific genetic diversity, due to changes in water level influencing gene flow across the calcrete.     

Identification of C4 responsive genes in the facultative C4 plant Hydrilla verticillata

The aquatic monocot Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle is a well-documented facultative C₄ NADP-malic enzyme species in which the C₄ and Calvin cycles operate in the same cell with the specific carboxylases confined to the cytosol and chloroplast, respectively. Several key components had already been characterized at the molecular level, thus the purpose of this study was to begin to identify other, less obvious, elements that may be necessary for a functional single-cell C₄ system. Using differential display, mRNA populations from C₃ and C₄ H. verticillata leaves were screened and expression profiles compared. From this study, 65 clones were isolated and subjected to a customized macroarray analysis; 25 clones were found to be upregulated in C₄ leaves. Northern and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses were used for confirmation. From these screenings, 13 C₄ upregulated genes were identified. Among these one encoded a previously recognized C₄ phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, and two encoded distinct pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase isoforms, new findings for H. verticillata. Genes that encode a transporter, an aminotransferase and two chaperonins were also upregulated. Twelve false positives, mostly housekeeping genes, were determined from the Northern/semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses. Sequence data obtained in this study are listed in the dbEST database (DV216698 to DV216767). As a single-cell C₄ system that lacks Kranz anatomy, a better understanding of how H. verticillata operates may facilitate the design of a transgenic C₄ system in a C₃ crop species.Srinath K. Rao and Hiroshi Fukayama contributed equally to this study.     

Molecular evolution of P transposable elements in the genus Drosophila. III. The melanogaster species group

Phylogenetic relationships were determined for 76 partial P-element sequences from 14 species of the melanogaster species group within the Drosophila subgenus Sophophora. These results are examined in the context of the phylogeny of the species from which the sequences were isolated. Sequences from the P-element family fall into distinct subfamilies, or clades, which are often characteristic for particular species subgroups. When examined locally among closely related species, the evolution of P elements is characterized by vertical transmission, whereby the P-element phylogeny traces the species phylogeny. On a broader scale, however, the P-element phylogeny is not congruent with the species phylogeny. One feature of P-element evolution in the melanogaster group is the presence of more than one P-element subfamily, differing by as much as 36%, in the genomes of some species. Thus, P elements from several individual species are not monophyletic, and a likely explanation for the incongruence between P-element and species phylogenies is provided by the comparison of paralogous sequences. In certain instances, horizontal transfer seems to be a valid alternative explanation for lack of congruence between species and P-element phylogenies. The canonical P-element subfamily, which represents the active, autonomous transposable element, is restricted to D. melanogaster. Thus, its origin clearly lies outside of the melanogaster species group, consistent with the earlier conclusion of recent horizontal transfer.      

The importance of an invasive tree fruit as a resource for mosquito larvae

Invasive plants are common and may provide resources through litter for container mosquito larvae. Invasive plant reproductive parts can make up a substantial part of litter but have mostly been ignored as a resource for mosquito larvae. We hypothesized that the reproductive fruits of the invasive eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, provide high quality resources for the invasive, container mosquito Aedes albopictus at the western margin of its invasive range in North America. To test this hypothesis, we performed two laboratory experiments. The first examined the response of individual larvae of Ae. albopictus to different amounts of J. virginiana leaf (fresh and senesced) and J. virginiana fruit (ripe and unripe), as well as to a control leaf (Quercus virginiana, live oak). The second experiment examined the response of different densities of Ae. albopictus larvae to each litter type. We found significant differences in response by individual larvae to different amounts of litter and litter types. We also found J. virginiana litter components could support positive population growth rates as a function of initial larval density where the control leaf could not. We conclude that invasive plants may provide high quality resources, and that the reproductive parts (fruits, flowers, cones) may be an important and overlooked component in provisioning larval habitats. Therefore, the expansion of J. virginiana into grassland areas may contribute to the expansion of Ae. albopictus westward in North America.