Regional environments, life-history patterns, and habitat use of spirostreptid millipedes in arid regions

Among diplopods with desert populations, only three species of Spirostreptida have been studied in an ecological context. The present review compares regional environments, life-history patterns, and uses of habitat by Orlhoporus ornatus (Girard) from southwestern North America, Archispirostreptus tumuliporus judaicus (Attems) from the eastern Mediterranean seaboard, and Harpagophora nigra (Attems) from southwestern Africa. Published and unpublished studies are used to explore evidence for convergence among these species, as opposed to traits adapting them to physical aspects of given regions or habitats. Unlike A. t. judaicus, O. ornatus and H. nigra are relatively restricted to arid habitats, although populations of all three species experience a variety of rainfall regimes and regional topographies. Where studied, O. ornatus and H. nigra hibernate during the long, often cool or cold dry season; they forage following warm-season rains. A. t. judaicus , in contrast, forages during its long, warm dry season and hibernates in the cool, wet winter. Populations from the Judaean and Negev deserts differ from those inhabiting a mesic habitat (Megiddo) closer to the coast in regard to rates of development, seasonal activity and seasonal water balance. Convergence in the form of well-developed desiccation resistance characterizes the two strictly desert species. All three species, together with other subtropical millipedes exposed to long dry seasons, are convergent with respect to patterns of diel surface activity and use of shelter. However species- and habitat-specific life-history features such as the seasonal timing of dormancy and emergence tend to mask convergence at the habitat level. Hence, the independent evolution of the three species with desert populations has resulted in life histories and habitat use that combine a moderate amount of convergence with considerable opportunistic adaptation to regional and local conditions.     

Changing Kinetic Properties of Barley Alcohol Dehydrogenase during Hypoxic Conditions

The Finnish barley cultivar (Hordeum vulgare L, cv. Hankkija-673)was grown in solution culture for periods of one and two months.The one month old plants had seminal roots, whereas the twomonth old plants grew adventitious roots from the lower nodes.The roots were tested for ADH activity during aeration, during3 d of hypoxic treatment (brought about by passing nitrogenthrough the nutrient solution), and during a 4 d recovery period.The ADH activity, calculated on a protein basis, rose about4-fold during the nitrogen treatment, the greatest increaseoccurring in the adventitious roots. Differences in the kineticproperties of ADH during the hypoxic period were also foundbetween seminal and adventitious roots. The K_m for acetaldehydechanged little in the seminal roots during the hypoxic treatment,but in the adventitious roots it decreased considerably. Thephysiological significance of these changes is discussed. Key words: Hordeum vulgare, alcohol dehydrogenase, hypoxia, enzyme kinetics     

AN ANTIGEN OF CHONDROITIN SULFATE PROTEOGLYCAN; A MARKER FOR CARTILAGE DIFFERENTIATION

Antisera to the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan complex (CPG) of cartilage were used to study the specificity of the CPG-associated antigen as a biochemical marker for cartilage differentiation and to study the expression of differentiation by cultured chondrocytes. Of 7 tissues tested, antigen giving an identity reaction with this protein could be detected by the Ouchterlony double diffusion test in extracts of sternum and brain of 14-day chick embryos. Extracts of 2 non-cartilage tissues gave a reaction indicating that they contain a related, but not identical antigen.
Ouchterlony double diffusion tests showed that extracts of morphologically differentiated chondrocytes cultured in vitro contain the CPG-associated antigen. The radio-precipitin test, used to quantitate the rate of synthesis of this antigen, provided a measure of cartilage phenotype expression in culture. The cultured chondrocytes synthesized antigenic protein at a rate similar to that of 14-day sternum. In contrast to intact cartilage, however, the cultured chondrocytes released much of the newly synthesized antigen into the medium.
The possibility was explored that synthesis of the CPG-associated antigen might be characteristic of all cells in culture, and not a specific expression of the cartilage phenotype. However, skin fibroblast cultures only contained detectable antigen of the "partially identical" type.     

Variation in Tolerance and Metabolic Responses to Flooding in some Tropical Trees

The effect of flooding on aerobic and anaerobic respirationas well as on the internal levels of ethanol, lactic, succinicand malic acids were compared in three flood-tolerant and twonon-flood-tolerant species. In the non-flood-tolerant speciesKielmeyera coriacea and Pseudobombax marginatum, which comefrom the ‘ cerrado’ vegetation, there was a uniformityof response with ethanol being the only one of the above productsto accumulate substantially during flooding. In the flood-tolerantspecies, Sebastiana klotzchyana, Hymenaea courbaril var. stilbocarpaand Chorisia speciosa, flooding induced a variety of responseswhich indicate that the tolerant species have evolved differingstrategies to overcome flooding stress.     

Induction and development of exogastrulae in the starfish,Pisaster ochraceus

The process of mouth and coelom formation in exogastrulae of the starfish, Pisaster ochraceus, induced by LiCl, has been studied with the light microscope, scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Bending and segmentation of the exogastrulated archenteron with the formation of either single or double coelomic pouches follows the same schedule as the control. In addition, a region of the exogastrular ectoderm, which corresponds to the area of the mouth in controls, undergoes invagination. Early morphogenesis of the archenteron and invagination of the ectoderm during mouth formation appear to be intrinsic properties of these structures.

At the time of mouth formation in the controls, a discrete region adjacent to the distal end of the exogastrulated archenteron becomes sticky. Examination of this region shows that the surfaces of the archenteron cells are relatively smooth and that processes of the mesenchyme cells extend between them. The evidence suggests that the mesenchyme cells are responsible for the stickiness, and that they may guide the archenteron and ectoderm into contact and maintain the contact during normal mouth formation.     

Microsatellite markers isolated from polyploid wood‐sorrel Oxalis alpina (Oxalidaceae)

Twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated from polyploid alpine wood‐sorrel, Oxalis alpina (Oxalidaceae), and optimized for future studies of its breeding system. The loci were screened for variability among 72 individuals from Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The primers amplified loci with allele number ranging from two to 17 per locus and with estimates of Nei's genetic diversity varying from 0.10 to 0.99. These primers provide an opportunity to use polymorphic DNA markers to study the causes of breeding system variability in this species.     

High‐throughput species identification: from DNA isolation to bioinformatics

Ichthyoplankton collections provide a valuable means to study fish life histories. However, these collections are greatly underutilized, as larval fishes are frequently not identified to species due to their small size and limited morphological development. Currently, there is an effort underway to make species identification more readily available across a broad range of taxa through the sequencing of a standard gene. This effort requires the development of new methodologies to both rapidly produce and analyse large numbers of sequences. The methodology presented in this paper addresses these issues with a focus on the larvae of large pelagic fish species. All steps of the methodology are targeted towards high‐throughput identification using small amounts of tissue. To accomplish this, DNA isolation was automated on a liquid‐handling robot using magnetic bead technologies. Polymerase chain reaction and a unidirectional sequencing reaction followed standard protocols with all template cleanup and transferring also automated. Manual pipetting was thus reduced to a minimum. A character‐based bioinformatics program was developed to handle the large sequence output. This program incorporates base‐call quality scores in two types of sample to voucher sequence comparisons and provides suggested identifications and sequence information in an easily interpreted spreadsheet format. This technique when applied to tuna and billfish larvae collected in the Straits of Florida had an 89% success rate. A single species (Thunnus atlanticus) was found to dominate the catch of tuna larvae, while billfish larvae were more evenly divided between two species (Makaira nigricans and Istiophorus platypterus).