A new role for PGRP-S (Tag7) in immune defense: lymphocyte migration is induced by a chemoattractant complex of Tag7 with Mts1

PGRP-S (Tag7) is an innate immunity protein involved in the antimicrobial defense systems, both in insects and in mammals. We have previously shown that Tag7 specifically interacts with several proteins, including Hsp70 and the calcium binding protein S100A4 (Mts1), providing a number of novel cellular functions. Here we show that Tag7–Mts1 complex causes chemotactic migration of lymphocytes, with NK cells being a preferred target. Cells of either innate immunity (neutrophils and monocytes) or acquired immunity (CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes) can produce this complex, which confirms the close connection between components of the 2 branches of immune response.     

Body mass changes in waders (Charadrii) in a high arctic area at northern Taimyr, Siberia

Body mass data were collected for 5 species of tundra waders during 6 breeding seasons to study variation in nutrient reserves relative to high arctic climatic conditions and the stage of reproduction. Structural size was accounted for by the 1st Principal Component of external linear measurements: wing length, bill length and tarsus length. SandpipersCalidris spp. were on average lighter in phenologically late seasons, while mass of Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) was similar in all years. Mass of waders was lower during brood-rearing than during incubation. Body mass during pre-nesting was most variable between years, reflecting the unpredictable weather conditions in this period. Monogamous species (KnotsCalidris canutus and Turnstones) began to breed earlier, and were on average, as heavy during the pre-nesting period as during incubation. In contrast, species with a proven or suspected rapid double-clutch breeding system (Little StintsC. minuta and SanderlingsC. alba) began to breed later and had during the laying period masses close to those of adults attending broods, and lower than during incubation. Body mass of the two latter species and Curlew Sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea) varied during incubation, reaching peak at 7 to 13 days after clutch completion.

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Zusammenfassung Von fünf Tundra-Watvogelarten wurden in sechs Brutperioden Daten zur Körpermasse gewonnen, um die Dynamik der Energiereserven in Abhängigkeit von den klimatischen Bedingungen der Hocharktis und vom Fortpflanzungsstadium zu analysieren. Der Einfluß der Körpermaße auf die Masse wurde bei der statistischen Auswertung durch die Einbeziehung der 1. Hauptkomponente von Flügel-, Schnabel- und Tarsuslänge berücksichtigt. StrandläuferCalidris spec. erwiesen sich in späten Jahren als leichter, während in der Körpermasse von Steinwälzern (Arenaria interpres) keine Unterschiede festgestellt werden konnten. Die Körpermasse aller untersuchter Arten war während der Betreuung der Jungvögel geringer als während Brütezeit. Die Masse in der Zeit vor der Brut variierte in Übereinstimmung mit den wechselnden Wetterbedingungen in den einzelnen Jahren am stärksten. Monogame Arten (KnutCalidris canutus und Steinwälzer) begannen früher mit der Fortpflanzung; ihre Körpermasse in der Phase von der Brut und während der Brütezeit war im Mittel etwa gleich. Im Gegensatz dazu begannen Arten, bei denen ein Doppelbrutsystem nachgewiesen wurde oder vermutet wird (ZwergstrandläuferC. minuta und SanderlingC. alba), später mit dem Nestbau, wobei die Körpermasse auf ein Niveau absinkt, das dem während der Betreuung der Jungvögel nahekommt und geringer ist, als das während der Brütezeit. Bei den beiden letzten Arten sowie beim Sichelstrandläufer (Calidris ferrugunea) veränderte sich die Körpermasse während des Brütens und erreichte ein Maximum zwischen dem 7. und dem 13. Tag nach Beendigung der Eiablage.

     

DIROM: an experimental design interactive system for directed mutagenesis and nucleic acids engineering

A computer system DIROM for oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesisand artificial gene design has been designed for better experimentalplanning and control. DIROM permits searching for optimal oligonucleotideswith respect to certain important parameters, namely sufficientenergy of oligonucleotide-target hybridization, the secondarystructure of oligonuc-tide and target DNA, the presence of alternatebinding sites in the target DNA and terminal G/C pairs. It canalso be used to plan polymerase chain reaction experiments,for optimal primer selection, in sequencing, etc. DIROM enablesone to search for both existing and potential restriction sites,to perform vector + target sequence construction. The systemconsists of a set of original algorithms that formalize theempirical knowledge of oligonucleotide action as primers.     

Energy Confinement in Self-Organized Tokamak Plasma (without Transport Barriers)

Plasma Physics Reports - The phenomenon of improved energy confinement during radiative cooling at the plasma edge was studied experimentally in the T-10 tokamak. It was shown that the effect is...     

Contrasting strategies for wing‐moult and pre‐migratory fuelling in western and eastern populations of Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis

Trade‐offs between moult and fuelling in migrant birds vary with migration distance and the environmental conditions they encounter. We compared wing moult and fuelling at the northern and southern ends of migration in two populations of adult Common Whitethroats Sylvia communis. The western population moults most remiges at the breeding grounds in Europe (e.g. Poland) and migrates 4000–5000 km to western Africa (e.g. Nigeria). The eastern population moults all remiges at the non‐breeding grounds and migrates 7000–10 000 km from western Asia (e.g. southwestern Siberia) to eastern and southern Africa. We tested the hypotheses that: (1) Whitethroats moult their wing feathers slowly in South Africa, where they face fewer time constraints than in Poland, and (2) fuelling is slower when it coincides with moulting (Poland, South Africa) than when it occurs alone (Siberia, Nigeria). We estimated moult timing of primaries, secondaries and tertials from moult records of Polish and South African Whitethroats ringed in 1987–2017 and determined fuelling patterns from the body mass of Whitethroats ringed in all four regions. The western population moulted wing feathers in Poland over 55 days (2 July–26 August) at a varying rate, up to 13 feathers simultaneously, but fuelled slowly until departure in August–mid‐September. In Nigeria, during the drier period of mid‐February–March they fuelled slowly, but the fuelling rate increased three‐fold in April–May after the rains before mid‐April–May departure. The eastern population did not moult in Siberia but fuelled three times faster before mid‐July–early August departure than did the western birds moulting in Poland. In South Africa, the Whitethroats moulted over 57 days (2 January–28 February) at a constant rate of up to nine feathers simultaneously and fuelled slowly from mid‐December until mid‐April–May departure. These results suggest the two populations use contrasting strategies to capitalize on food supplies before departure from breeding and non‐breeding grounds.     

Nanobiotechnology today: focus on nanoparticles

In the recent years the nanobiotechnology field and the Journal of Nanobiotechnology readership have witnessed an increase in interest towards the nanoparticles and their biological effects and applications. These include bottom-up and molecular self-assembly, biological effects of naked nanoparticles and nano-safety, drug encapsulation and nanotherapeutics, and novel nanoparticles for use in microscopy, imaging and diagnostics. This review highlights recent Journal of Nanobiotechnology publications in some of these areas .     

A global population redistribution in a migrant shorebird detected with continent‐wide qualitative breeding survey data

Aim Over the last two decades, thousands of northward migrating ruffs (Philomachus pugnax) have disappeared from western European staging sites. These migratory ruffs were partly temperate breeding birds, but most individuals head towards the Eurasian Arctic tundras where 95% of the global population breeds. This regional decline may represent either: (1) local loss of breeding birds in western Europe, (2) a global decline, (3) shift(s) in distribution or (4) a combination of these. Location Northern Eurasia. Methods To put the declines in western Europe in context, we analysed Arctic monitoring data from the last two decades ( Soloviev & Tomkovich, 2009 ) to detect changes in regional breeding densities across northern Eurasia. We used a novel approach applying generalized additive modelling (GAM) and generalized estimations equations (GEE). Results We show that the global breeding population of ruffs has made a significant eastwards shift into the Asian part of the breeding range. In the European Arctic, ruffs decreased during the last 18 years. At the same time, in western Siberia, ruffs increased. In eastern Siberia, no significant population changes could be detected. These changes corroborate the finding that during northward migration, growing numbers of ruffs avoided staging areas in the Netherlands and Sweden and started migrating along a more easterly route leading into western Siberia. Main conclusions We detected an unprecedented large‐scale population redistribution of ruffs and suggest that this is a response to loss of habitat quality at the traditional staging site in the Netherlands.