Thermochromatography study of volatile polonium species in various gas atmospheres

Phenomena related to the volatilization of polonium and its compounds are critical issues for the safety assessment of the innovative lead–bismuth cooled type of nuclear reactor or accelerator driven systems. The formation and volatilization of different species of polonium and their interaction with fused silica was studied by thermochromatography using carrier gases with varied redox potential. The obtained results show that under inert and reducing conditions in the absence of moisture, elemental polonium is formed. Polonium compounds more volatile than elemental polonium can be formed if traces of moisture are present in both inert and reducing carrier gas. The use of dried oxygen as carrier gas leads to the formation of polonium oxides, which are less volatile than elemental polonium. It was also found that the volatility of polonium oxides increases with increasing oxidation state. In the presence of moisture in an oxidizing carrier gas, species are formed that are more volatile than the oxides and less volatile than the elemental polonium. Considering the redox potential of the carrier gas those species are likely oxyhydroxides.

A verified spider bite and a review of the literature confirm Indian ornamental tree spiders (Poecilotheria species) as underestimated theraphosids of medical importance.

Literature on bird spider or tarantula bites (Theraphosidae) is rare. This is astonishing as they are coveted pets and interaction with their keepers (feeding, cleaning the terrarium or taking them out to hold) might increase the possibility for bites. Yet, this seems to be a rare event and might be why most theraphosids are considered to be harmless, even though the urticating hairs of many American species can cause disagreeable allergic reactions. We are describing a case of a verified bite by an Indian ornamental tree spider (Poecilotheria regalis), where the patient developed severe, long lasting muscle cramps several hours after the bite. We present a comprehensive review of the literature on bites of these beautiful spiders and conclude that a delayed onset of severe muscle cramps, lasting for days, is characteristic for Poecilotheria bites. We discuss Poecilotheria species as an exception from the general assumption that theraphosid bites are harmless to humans.

Laser-induced transient grating analysis of dynamics of interaction between sensory rhodopsin II D75N and the HtrII transducer.

The interaction between sensory rhodopsin II (SRII) and its transducer HtrII was studied by the time-resolved laser-induced transient grating method using the D75N mutant of SRII, which exhibits minimal visible light absorption changes during its photocycle, but mediates normal phototaxis responses. Flash-induced transient absorption spectra of transducer-free D75N and D75N joined to 120 amino-acid residues of the N-terminal part of the SRII transducer protein HtrII (DeltaHtrII) showed only one spectrally distinct K-like intermediate in their photocycles, but the transient grating method resolved four intermediates (K(1)-K(4)) distinct in their volumes. D75N bound to HtrII exhibited one additional slower kinetic species, which persists after complete recovery of the initial state as assessed by absorption changes in the UV-visible region. The kinetics indicate a conformationally changed form of the transducer portion (designated Tr*), which persists after the photoreceptor returns to the unphotolyzed state. The largest conformational change in the DeltaHtrII portion was found to cause a DeltaHtrII-dependent increase in volume rising in 8 micros in the K(4) state and a drastic decrease in the diffusion coefficient (D) of K(4) relatively to those of the unphotolyzed state and Tr*. The magnitude of the decrease in D indicates a large structural change, presumably in the solvent-exposed HAMP domain of DeltaHtrII, where rearrangement of interacting molecules in the solvent would substantially change friction between the protein and the solvent.

Upregulation of Reactive Oxygen Species During the Retrovirus Life Cycle and Their Roles in a Mutant of Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus, ts1-Mediated Neurodegeneration

Viral invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) and development of neurological symptoms is a characteristic of many retroviruses. The mechanism by which retrovirus infection causes neurological dysfunction has yet to be fully elucidated. Given the complexity of the retrovirus-mediated neuropathogenesis, studies using small animal models are extremely valuable. Our laboratory has used a mutant moloney murine leukemia retrovirus, ts1-mediated neurodegneration. We hypothesize that astrocytes play an important role in ts1-induced neurodegeneration since they are retroviral reservoirs and supporting cells for neurons. It has been shown that ts1 is able to infect astrocytes in vivo and in vitro. Astrocytes, the dominant cell population in the CNS, extend their end feet to endothelial cells and neuronal synapse to provide neuronal support. Signs of oxidative stress in the ts1-infected CNS have been well-documented from previous studies. After viral infection, retroviral DNA is generated from its RNA genome and integrated into the host genome. In this study, we identified the life cycle of ts1 in the infected astrocytes. During the infection, we observed reactive oxygen species (ROS) upregulations: one at low levels during the early infection phase and another at high levels during the late infection phase. Initially we hypothesized that p53 might play an important role in ts1-mediated astrocytic cell death. Subsequently, we found that p53 is unlikely to be involved in the ts1-mediated astrocytic cell death. Instead, p53 phosphorylation was increased by the early ROS upregulation via ATM, the protein encoded by the ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) mutated gene. The early upregulation of p53 delayed viral gene expression by suppressing expression of the catalytic subunit of NADPH oxidase (NOX). We further demonstrated that the ROS upregulation induced by NOX activation plays an important role in establishing retroviral genome into the host. Inhibition of NOX decreased viral replication and delayed the onset of pathological symptoms in ts1-infected mice. These observations lead us to conclude that suppression of NOX not only prevents the establishment of the retrovirus but also decreases oxidative stress in the CNS. This study provides us with new perspectives on the retrovirus-host cell interaction and sheds light on retrovirus-induced neurodegeneration as a result of the astrocyte-neuron interaction.

Are cryptic host species also cryptic to parasites? Host specificity and geographical distribution of acanthocephalan parasites infecting freshwater Gammarus

Many parasites infect multiple host species. In coevolving host–parasite interactions, theory predicts that parasites should be adapted to locally common hosts, which could lead to regional shifts in host preferences. We studied the interaction between freshwater Gammarus (Crustacea, Amphipoda) and their acanthocephalan parasites using a large-scale field survey and experiments, combined with molecular identification of cryptic host and parasite species. Gammarus pulex is a common host for multiple species of Acanthocephala in Europe but, in Switzerland, is less common than two cryptic members of the Gammarus fossarum species complex (type A and type B). We found that natural populations of these cryptic species were frequently infected by Pomphorhynchus tereticollis and Polymorphus minutus. Four additional parasite species occurred only locally. Parasites were more common in G. fossarum type B than in type A. Infection experiments using several host and parasite sources confirmed consistently lower infection rates in G. pulex than in G. fossarum type A, suggesting a general difference in susceptibility between the two species. In conclusion, we could show that cryptic host species differ in their interactions with parasites, but that these differences were much less dramatic than differences between G. fossarum (type A) and G. pulex. Our data suggest that the acanthocephalans in Switzerland have adapted to the two most common Gammarus species in this region where host species frequencies differ from near-by regions in Europe.

Evidence of species-specific neighborhood effects in the dipterocarpaceae of a Bornean rain forest

Although accumulating evidence indicates that local intraspecific density-dependent effects are not as rare in species-rich communities as previously suspected, there are still very few detailed and systematic neighborhood analyses of species-rich communities. Here, we provide such an analysis with the overall goal of quantifying the relative importance of inter- and intraspecific interaction strength in a primary, lowland dipterocarp forest located at Danum, Sabah, Malaysia. Using data on 10 abundant overstory dipterocarp species from two 4-ha permanent plots, we evaluated the effects of neighbors on the absolute growth rate of focal trees (from 1986 to 1996) over increasing neighborhood radii (from 1 to 20 m) with multiple regressions. Only trees 10 cm to < 100 cm girth at breast height in 1986 were considered as focal trees. Among neighborhood models with one neighbor term, models including only conspecific larger trees performed best in five out of 10 species. Negative effects of conspecific larger neighbors were most apparent in large overstory species such as those of the genus Shorea. However, neighborhood models with separate terms and radii for heterospecific and conspecific neighbors accounted for more variability in absolute growth rates than did neighborhood models with one neighbor term. The conspecific term was significant for nine out of 10 species. Moreover, in five out of 10 species, trees without conspecific neighbors had significantly higher absolute growth rates than trees with conspecific neighbors. Averaged over the 10 species, trees without conspecific neighbors grew 32.4 cm(2) in basal area from 1986 to 1996, whereas trees with conspecific neighbors only grew 14.7 cm(2) in basal area, although there was no difference in initial basal area between trees in the two groups. Averaged across the six species of the genus Shorea, negative effects of conspecific larger trees were significantly stronger than for heterospecific larger neighbors. Thus, high local densities within neighborhoods of 20 m may lead to strong intraspecific negative and, hence, density-dependent, effects even in species rich communities with low overall densities at larger spatial scales. We conjecture that the strength of conspecific effects may be correlated with the degree of host specificity of ectomycorrhizae.

Species interactions and random dispersal rather than habitat filtering drive community assembly during early plant succession

Theory on plant succession predicts a temporal increase in the complexity of spatial community structure and of competitive interactions: initially random occurrences of early colonising species shift towards spatially and competitively structured plant associations in later successional stages. Here we use long-term data on early plant succession in a German post mining area to disentangle the importance of random colonisation, habitat filtering, and competition on the temporal and spatial development of plant community structure. We used species co-occurrence analysis and a recently developed method for assessing competitive strength and hierarchies (transitive versus intransitive competitive orders) in multispecies communities. We found that species turnover decreased through time within interaction neighbourhoods, but increased through time outside interaction neighbourhoods. Successional change did not lead to modular community structure. After accounting for species richness effects, the strength of competitive interactions and the proportion of transitive competitive hierarchies increased through time. Although effects of habitat filtering were weak, random colonization and subsequent competitive interactions had strong effects on community structure. Because competitive strength and transitivity were poorly correlated with soil characteristics, there was little evidence for context dependent competitive strength associated with intransitive competitive hierarchies.

GMZ27 is a new organic arsenic derivative with anti-leukemic activity, via the induction of reactive oxygen species through NADPH oxidase and mitochondrial pathway that lead to leukemia cell apoptosis

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) is an inorganic arsenic derivative that is very effective against relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia. It is being investigated as therapy for other cancers, but the risk/benefit ratio is questionable due to significant side effects. In contrast, organic arsenic derivatives (OAD) are known to be much less toxic than ATO. Based on high activity, we selected GMZ27 (dipropil-s-glycerol arsenic) for further study and have confirmed its potent activity against human acute leukemia cell lines. This anti-leukemic activity is significantly higher than that of ATO. Both in vivo and in vitro tests have shown that GMZ27 is significantly less toxic to normal bone marrow mononuclear cells and normal mice. Therefore, further study of the biological activity of GMZ27 was undertaken. ^ GMZ27, in contrast to ATO, can only marginally induce maturation of leukemic cells. GMZ27 has no effect on cell cycle. The anti-leukemic activity of GMZ27 against acute myeolocytic leukemia cells is not dependent upon degradation of PML-RARα fusion protein. GMZ27 causes dissipation of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, cleavage of caspase 9, caspase 3 activation. Further studies indicated that GMZ27 induces intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and modification of intracellular ROS levels had profound effect on its potential to inhibit proliferation of leukemic cells. Therefore ROS production plays a major role in the anti-leukemic activity of GMZ27. ^ To identify how GMZ27 induces ROS, our studies focused on mitochondria and NADPH oxidase. The results indicated that the source of ROS generation induced by GMZ27 is dose dependent. At the low dose (0.3 uM) GMZ27 induces NADPH oxidase activity that leads to late ROS production, while at the high dose (2.0 uM) mitochondria function is disrupted and early ROS production is induced leading to dramatic cell apoptosis. Therefore, late, ROS production can be detected in mitochondria are depleted Rho-0 cells. Our work not only delineates a major biologic pathway for the anti-leukemic activity of GMZ27, but also discusses possible ways of enhancing the effect by the co-application of NADPH oxidase activator. Further study of this interaction may lead to achieving better therapeutic index.^

Effect of Prosopis flexuosa on understory species and its importance to pastoral management in woodlands of the Central Monte Desert

In the Monte Biogeographic Province, located in the arid region of Argentina, the presence of Prosopis flexuosa DC. produces spatial heterogeneity through edaphic modifications and microclimate changes. This results in vegetation patches differing in species composition and abundance. However, this interaction can be modified by the occurrence of gradients of biotic stress or disturbance intensity. In particular, grazing has been observed to enhance or reduce vegetation heterogeneity. Such complex of interactions could determine forage availability for cattle in one of the driest areas of the Monte Desert. We assessed the effect of Prosopis on understory species and analyzed whether the outcomes of this interaction differed with distance to watering points, as a proxy of grazing intensity, in the Northeast of Mendoza Province, Argentina. We used a two-way factorial design including the following factors: 1) microsite (under the cover of P. flexuosa trees and in intercanopy microsites) and 2) distance to watering points (&quot;near the watering point&quot;, 500-700 m away, and &quot;far from the watering point&quot;, 3-4 km away). Cover of each species, total cover, bare soil, and litter were recorded, and plant diversity, richness, and evenness were estimated with the modified Point Quadrat method. Results showed that P. flexuosa cover, distance from watering points, and the interaction between them determined species composition, abundance and spatial distribution of understory species, and were, consequently, a determining factor for forage availability. The presence of P. flexuosa enhances carrying capacity by supporting higher abundance of grasses under its canopy. Near watering points, high grazing intensity appears to disrupt the patches formed under P. flexuosa canopies, reducing the differences between microsites.

Species and composition of tundra meadows

Observations of hummock and string-like microrelief features were made in High Arctic hydric meadows. Thermal shearing of thick bryophyte mats, and subsequent roll back during spring flooding appears to be one way in which this topography is formed. Hummocky and non-hummocky (flat) meadows show distinct floristic differences which may in part be due to observed differences in temperature, nutrient concentrations and moisture relations.

Distribution models for mountain plant species: The value of elevation

The climatic conditions of mountain habitats are greatly influenced by topography. Large differences in microclimate occur with small changes in elevation, and this complex interaction is an important determinant of mountain plant distributions. In spite of this, elevation is not often considered as a relevant predictor in species distribution models (SDMs) for mountain plants. Here, we evaluated the importance of including elevation as a predictor in SDMs for mountain plant species. We generated two sets of SDMs for each of 73 plant species that occur in the Pacific Northwest of North America; one set of models included elevation as a predictor variable and the other set did not. AUC scores indicated that omitting elevation as a predictor resulted in a negligible reduction of model performance. However, further analysis revealed that the omission of elevation resulted in large over-predictions of species' niche breadths-this effect was most pronounced for species that occupy the highest elevations. In addition, the inclusion of elevation as a predictor constrained the effects of other predictors that superficially affected the outcome of the models generated without elevation. Our results demonstrate that the inclusion of elevation as a predictor variable improves the quality of SDMs for high-elevation plant species. Because of the negligible AUC score penalty for over-predicting niche breadth, our results support the notion that AUC scores alone should not be used as a measure of model quality. More generally, our results illustrate the importance of selecting biologically relevant predictor variables when constructing SDMs.

Data compilation of hummingbird-pollinated plant species in the Brazilian Atlantic rain forest

We studied the relationship between flower size and nectar properties of hummingbird-visited flowers in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We analysed the nectar volume and concentration as a function of corolla length and the average bill size of visitors for 150 plant species, using the phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) to control for phylogenetic signals in the data. We found that nectar volume is positively correlated with corolla length due to phylogenetic allometry. We also demonstrated that larger flowers provide better rewards for long-billed hummingbirds. Regardless of the causal mechanisms, our results support the hypothesis that morphological floral traits that drive partitioning among hummingbirds correspond to the quantity of resources produced by the flowers in the Atlantic Forest. We demonstrate that the relationship between nectar properties and flower size is affected by phylogenetic constraints and thus future studies assessing the interaction between floral traits need to control for phylogenetic signals in the data.

Dominant zooplankton species and microelements in plankton obtained from White Sea surface waters

Despite the fact that plankton plays an important role in biogeochemical processes in oceans, data on its elemental composition, particularly in shelf seas of the Arctic Ocean, have thus far been insufficient. This communication, which is devoted to a comparative analysis of the elemental composition of plankton and bottom sediments in the White Sea, is part of the comprehensive investigation of the region that is occurring in line with the International Project ''Land-Ocean Interaction in the Russian Arctic'' (LOIRA).

DNA alignment and Bayesian trees of partial sequences of COI, COIII and the haemocyanin functional unit f-g of 28 octopod species

Background: Octopods have successfully colonised the world's oceans from the tropics to the poles. Yet, successful persistence in these habitats has required adaptations of their advanced physiological apparatus to compensate impaired oxygen supply. Their oxygen transporter haemocyanin plays a major role in cold tolerance and accordingly has undergone functional modifications to sustain oxygen release at sub-zero temperatures. However, it remains unknown how molecular properties evolved to explain the observed functional adaptations. We thus aimed to assess whether natural selection affected molecular and structural properties of haemocyanin that explains temperature adaptation in octopods. Results: Analysis of 239 partial sequences of the haemocyanin functional units (FU) f and g of 28 octopod species of polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical origin revealed natural selection was acting primarily on charge properties of surface residues. Polar octopods contained haemocyanins with higher net surface charge due to decreased glutamic acid content and higher numbers of basic amino acids. Within the analysed partial sequences, positive selection was present at site 2545, positioned between the active copper binding centre and the FU g surface. At this site, methionine was the dominant amino acid in polar octopods and leucine was dominant in tropical octopods. Sites directly involved in oxygen binding or quaternary interactions were highly conserved within the analysed sequence. Conclusions: This study has provided the first insight into molecular and structural mechanisms that have enabled octopods to sustain oxygen supply from polar to tropical conditions. Our findings imply modulation of oxygen binding via charge-charge interaction at the protein surface, which stabilize quaternary interactions among functional units to reduce detrimental effects of high pH on venous oxygen release. Of the observed partial haemocyanin sequence, residue 2545 formed a close link between the FU g surface and the active centre, suggesting a role as allosteric binding site. The prevalence of methionine at this site in polar octopods, implies regulation of oxygen affinity via increased sensitivity to allosteric metal binding. High sequence conservation of sites directly involved in oxygen binding indicates that functional modifications of octopod haemocyanin rather occur via more subtle mechanisms, as observed in this study.