A Plant Needs Ants like a Dog Needs Fleas: Myrmelachista schumanni Ants Gall Many Tree Species to Create Housing

Hundreds of tropical plant species house ant colonies in specialized chambers called domatia. When, in 1873, Richard Spruce likened plant-ants to fleas and asserted that domatia are ant-created galls, he incited a debate that lasted almost a century. Alth

High rate of chimeric gene origination by retroposition in plant genomes

Retroposition is widely found to play essential roles in origination of new mammalian and other animal genes. However, the scarcity of retrogenes in plants has led to the assumption that plant genomes rarely evolve new gene duplicates by retroposition, de

Anti-HIV-1 activities of extracts from the medicinal plant Rhus chinensis

Rhus chinensis, a species used in folk medicine by Chinese native people, the anti-HIV-1 activities of the petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, butanol and aqueous extract of Rhus chinensis, named as RC-1, RC-2, RC-3 and RC-4, respectively, was evaluated. The

Anti-HIV-1 activities of compounds isolated from the medicinal plant Rhus chinensis

Aim of the study: Previously, we reported that the petroleum ether fraction, RC-1, and EtOAc fraction, RC-2, of the medicinal plant Rhus chinensis showed potent anti-HIV-1 activities. To address anti-HIV-1 constituents of RC-1 and RC-2, 17 compounds were

Interactions between a cyanobacterial bloom (Microcystis) and the submerged aquatic plant Ceratophyllum oryzetorum Kom.

In aquatic ecosystems, macrophytes and phytoplankton are main primary producers, in which macrophyte plays an important role in maintaining clear water state, while phytoplankton often dominates in turbid waterbodies. In the present study, the growth and photosynthetic activity of the submerged aquatic plant Ceratophyllum oryzetorum Kom. in different cell densities of cyanobacterial bloom are studied. The results show that the plant length and fresh mass of C. oryzetorum are promoted by low cyanobacterial cell densities. Medium and high cyanobacterial cell densities, on the contrary, act as inhibitory. Furthermore, the photosynthetic activity of C. oryzetorum is strongly inhibited by high cyanobacterial cell densities. To a certain extent, the growth of cyanobacteria is inhibited by C. oryzetorum, but no significant effect is found in this study.

Seasonal variations of estrogenic compounds and their estrogenicities in influent and effluent from a municipal sewage treatment plant in China

The seasonal variations of estrogenic compounds and the estrogenicities of influent and effluent were investigated by OF chemical analysis and in vitro assay in a municipal sewage treatment plant in Wuhan (China). The levels of eight estrogenic compounds, including 17 beta-estradiol (E-2) estrone (E-1), estriol (E-3) diethylstilbestrol (DES), 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol, nonylphenol (NP), 4-tert-octylphenol (OP), and bisphenol A (BPA), were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Total estrogenic activity of sewage was quantitatively assessed using primary cultured hepatocytes of male Megalobrama amblycephala Yih using vitellogenin as a biomarker. The E-2 equivalents (EEQs) obtained from the chemical analysis were consistent with those measured by bioassay. The natural (E-1, E-2, and E-3) and synthetic (DES) estrogens, as well as NP, were the main contributors of the total EEQs of influent and effluent in the present study. The levels of natural estrogens E-1 and E-3 in the influent and effluent were higher in winter than in summer, whereas the situation for NP and OP was the reverse. The levels of E-2, DES, and BPA varied little among different seasons. 17 alpha-Ethinylestradiol was not detected in the influent and effluent. The estrogenicities of the influent and of the primary and secondary effluents were all higher in summer than in winter. Estrogenic activities in winter mainly originated from natural (E-1, E-2, and E-3) and synthetic (DES) estrogens, whereas the increase of EEQs in summer was contributed by NP The results from chemical analysis and bioassay demonstrate that estrogenic compounds cannot be entirely removed by the existing sewage treatment process, which should be further improved to protect aquatic ecosystems and human health.

Effect of plant architecture on the structure of epiphytic macro invertebrate communities in a Chinese lake

We examined the effect of different plant architecture types on epiphytic macroinvertebrates of a shallow macrophyte-dominated lake in China. Macroinvertebrates were sampled from four dominant submersed macrophytes in the lake - two dissected plants (Myriophyllum spicatum L. and Ceratophyllum demersum L.) and two undissected plants (Potamogeton maackianus A. Benn. and Vallisneria spiralis L.). Macro invertebrate richness showed significant differences among four submersed macrophyte habitats, and higher density per g of dry plant were associated with dissected plants than undissected plants. The average abundance in dissected plants was as three-six times as in undissected plants. The biodiversity of epiphytic macroinvertebrates was higher in dissected plants than undissected plants. Our results suggest that dissected plants provide different habitat for macroinvertebrates than dissected plant, and this concurs with the hypothesis that the former could support more epiphytic macroinvertebrates than the latter.