TY - JOUR A1 - Dittmann-Thünemann, Elke A1 - Fewer, David P. A1 - Neilan, Brett A. T1 - Cyanobacterial toxins biosynthetic routes and evolutionary roots JF - FEMS microbiology reviews N2 - Cyanobacteria produce an unparalleled variety of toxins that can cause severe health problems or even death in humans, and wild or domestic animals. In the last decade, biosynthetic pathways have been assigned to the majority of the known toxin families. This review summarizes current knowledge about the enzymatic basis for the production of the hepatotoxins microcystin and nodularin, the cytotoxin cylindrospermopsin, the neurotoxins anatoxin and saxitoxin, and the dermatotoxin lyngbyatoxin. Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways of the toxins has paved the way for the development of molecular techniques for the detection and quantification of the producing cyanobacteria in different environments. Phylogenetic analyses of related clusters from a large number of strains has also allowed for the reconstruction of the evolutionary scenarios that have led to the emergence, diversification, and loss of such gene clusters in different strains and genera of cyanobacteria. Advances in the understanding of toxin biosynthesis and evolution have provided new methods for drinking-water quality control and may inspire the development of techniques for the management of bloom formation in the future. KW - microcystin KW - cylindrospermopsin KW - anatoxin KW - saxitoxin KW - cyanobacteria Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6976.2012.12000.x SN - 0168-6445 SN - 1574-6976 VL - 37 IS - 1 SP - 23 EP - 43 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neilan, Brett A. A1 - Pearson, Leanne A. A1 - Münchhoff, Julia A1 - Moffitt, Michelle C. A1 - Dittmann-Thünemann, Elke T1 - Environmental conditions that influence toxin biosynthesis in cyanobacteria JF - Environmental microbiology N2 - Over the past 15 years, the genetic basis for production of many cyanobacterial bioactive compounds has been described. This knowledge has enabled investigations into the environmental factors that regulate the production of these toxins at the molecular level. Such molecular or systems level studies are also likely to reveal the physiological role of the toxin and contribute to effective water resource management. This review focuses on the environmental regulation of some of the most relevant cyanotoxins, namely the microcystins, nodularin, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxins, anatoxins and jamaicamides. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02729.x SN - 1462-2912 VL - 15 IS - 5 SP - 1239 EP - 1253 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aguzzi, Jacopo A1 - Costa, C. A1 - Ketmaier, V. A1 - Angelini, C. A1 - Antonucci, F. A1 - Menesatti, P. A1 - Company, J. B. T1 - Light-dependent genetic and phenotypic differences in the squat lobster Munida tenuimana (Crustacea: Decapoda) along deep continental margins JF - Progress in oceanography N2 - The levels of environmental light experienced by organisms during the behavioral activity phase deeply influence the performance of important ecological tasks. As a result, their shape and coloring may experience a light-driven selection process via the day-night rhythmic behavior. In this study, we tested the phenotypic and genetic variability of the western Mediterranean squat lobster (Munida tenuimana). We sampled at depths with different photic conditions and potentially, different burrow emergence rhythms. We performed day-night hauling at different depths, above and below the twilight zone end (i.e., 700 m, 1200 m, 1350 m, and 1500 m), to portray the occurrence of any burrow emergence rhythmicity. Collected animals were screened for shape and size (by geometric morphometry), spectrum and color variation (by photometric analysis), as well as for sequence variation at the mitochondria] DNA gene encoding for the NADH dehydrogenase subunit I. We found that a weak genetic structuring and shape homogeneity occurred together with significant variations in size, with the smaller individuals living at the twilight zone inferior limit and the larger individuals above and below. The infra-red wavelengths of spectral reflectance varied significantly with depth while the blue-green ones were size-dependent and expressed in smaller animals, which has a very small spectral reflectance. The effects of solar and bioluminescence lighting are discussed as depth-dependent evolutionary forces likely influencing the behavioral rhythms and coloring of M. tenuimana. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2013.07.011 SN - 0079-6611 VL - 118 IS - 4 SP - 199 EP - 209 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Iobbi-Nivol, Chantal A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - Molybdenum enzymes, their maturation and molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis in Escherichia coli JF - Biochimica et biophysica acta : Bioenergetics N2 - Molybdenum cofactor (Moco) biosynthesis is an ancient, ubiquitous, and highly conserved pathway leading to the biochemical activation of molybdenum. Moco is the essential component of a group of redox enzymes, which are diverse in terms of their phylogenetic distribution and their architectures, both at the overall level and in their catalytic geometry. A wide variety of transformations are catalyzed by these enzymes at carbon, sulfur and nitrogen atoms, which include the transfer of an oxo group or two electrons to or from the substrate. More than 50 molybdoenzymes were identified in bacteria to date. In molybdoenzymes Mo is coordinated to a dithiolene group on the 6-alkyl side chain of a pterin called molybdopterin (MPT). The biosynthesis of Moco can be divided into four general steps in bacteria: I) formation of the cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate, 2) formation of MPT, 3) insertion of molybdenum into molybdopterin to form Moco, and 4) additional modification of Moco with the attachment of GMP or CMP to the phosphate group of MPT, forming the dinucleotide variant of Moco. This review will focus on molybdoenzymes, the biosynthesis of Moco, and its incorporation into specific target proteins focusing on Escherichia coli. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Metals in Bioenergetics and Biomimetics Systems. KW - Molybdenum cofactor KW - Molybdenum KW - Dithiolene KW - Molybdopterin KW - Bis-MGD KW - Moco Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.11.007 SN - 0005-2728 VL - 1827 IS - 8-9 SP - 1086 EP - 1101 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wagner, Nicole D. A1 - Hillebrand, Helmut A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Frost, Paul C. T1 - Nutritional indicators and their uses in ecology JF - Ecology letters N2 - The nutrition of animal consumers is an important regulator of ecological processes due to its effects on their physiology, life-history and behaviour. Understanding the ecological effects of poor nutrition depends on correctly diagnosing the nature and strength of nutritional limitation. Despite the need to assess nutritional limitation, current approaches to delineating nutritional constraints can be non-specific and imprecise. Here, we consider the need and potential to develop new complementary approaches to the study of nutritional constraints on animal consumers by studying and using a suite of established and emerging biochemical and molecular responses. These nutritional indicators include gene expression, transcript regulators, protein profiling and activity, and gross biochemical and elemental composition. The potential applications of nutritional indicators to ecological studies are highlighted to demonstrate the value that this approach would have to future studies in community and ecosystem ecology. KW - Ecological stoichiometry KW - lipid profiling KW - metabolism KW - nutrient-stress KW - nutrition KW - proteomics KW - transcriptomics Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12067 SN - 1461-023X VL - 16 IS - 4 SP - 535 EP - 544 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sibly, Richard M. A1 - Grimm, Volker A1 - Martin, Benjamin T. A1 - Johnston, Alice S. A. A1 - Kulakowska, Katarzyna A1 - Topping, Christopher J. A1 - Calow, Peter A1 - Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob A1 - Thorbek, Pernille A1 - DeAngelis, Donald L. T1 - Representing the acquisition and use of energy by individuals in agent-based models of animal populations JF - Methods in ecology and evolution : an official journal of the British Ecological Society N2 - Agent-based models (ABMs) are widely used to predict how populations respond to changing environments. As the availability of food varies in space and time, individuals should have their own energy budgets, but there is no consensus as to how these should be modelled. Here, we use knowledge of physiological ecology to identify major issues confronting the modeller and to make recommendations about how energy budgets for use in ABMs should be constructed. Our proposal is that modelled animals forage as necessary to supply their energy needs for maintenance, growth and reproduction. If there is sufficient energy intake, an animal allocates the energy obtained in the order: maintenance, growth, reproduction, energy storage, until its energy stores reach an optimal level. If there is a shortfall, the priorities for maintenance and growth/reproduction remain the same until reserves fall to a critical threshold below which all are allocated to maintenance. Rates of ingestion and allocation depend on body mass and temperature. We make suggestions for how each of these processes should be modelled mathematically. Mortality rates vary with body mass and temperature according to known relationships, and these can be used to obtain estimates of background mortality rate. If parameter values cannot be obtained directly, then values may provisionally be obtained by parameter borrowing, pattern-oriented modelling, artificial evolution or from allometric equations. The development of ABMs incorporating individual energy budgets is essential for realistic modelling of populations affected by food availability. Such ABMs are already being used to guide conservation planning of nature reserves and shell fisheries, to assess environmental impacts of building proposals including wind farms and highways and to assess the effects on nontarget organisms of chemicals for the control of agricultural pests. KW - bioenergetics KW - energy budget KW - individual-based models KW - population dynamics Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12002 SN - 2041-210X VL - 4 IS - 2 SP - 151 EP - 161 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arnison, Paul G. A1 - Bibb, Mervyn J. A1 - Bierbaum, Gabriele A1 - Bowers, Albert A. A1 - Bugni, Tim S. A1 - Bulaj, Grzegorz A1 - Camarero, Julio A. A1 - Campopiano, Dominic J. A1 - Challis, Gregory L. A1 - Clardy, Jon A1 - Cotter, Paul D. A1 - Craik, David J. A1 - Dawson, Michael A1 - Dittmann-Thünemann, Elke A1 - Donadio, Stefano A1 - Dorrestein, Pieter C. A1 - Entian, Karl-Dieter A1 - Fischbach, Michael A. A1 - Garavelli, John S. A1 - Goeransson, Ulf A1 - Gruber, Christian W. A1 - Haft, Daniel H. A1 - Hemscheidt, Thomas K. A1 - Hertweck, Christian A1 - Hill, Colin A1 - Horswill, Alexander R. A1 - Jaspars, Marcel A1 - Kelly, Wendy L. A1 - Klinman, Judith P. A1 - Kuipers, Oscar P. A1 - Link, A. James A1 - Liu, Wen A1 - Marahiel, Mohamed A. A1 - Mitchell, Douglas A. A1 - Moll, Gert N. A1 - Moore, Bradley S. A1 - Mueller, Rolf A1 - Nair, Satish K. A1 - Nes, Ingolf F. A1 - Norris, Gillian E. A1 - Olivera, Baldomero M. A1 - Onaka, Hiroyasu A1 - Patchett, Mark L. A1 - Piel, Jörn A1 - Reaney, Martin J. T. A1 - Rebuffat, Sylvie A1 - Ross, R. Paul A1 - Sahl, Hans-Georg A1 - Schmidt, Eric W. A1 - Selsted, Michael E. A1 - Severinov, Konstantin A1 - Shen, Ben A1 - Sivonen, Kaarina A1 - Smith, Leif A1 - Stein, Torsten A1 - Suessmuth, Roderich D. A1 - Tagg, John R. A1 - Tang, Gong-Li A1 - Truman, Andrew W. A1 - Vederas, John C. A1 - Walsh, Christopher T. A1 - Walton, Jonathan D. A1 - Wenzel, Silke C. A1 - Willey, Joanne M. A1 - van der Donk, Wilfred A. T1 - Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide natural products overview and recommendations for a universal nomenclature JF - Natural product reports : a journal of current developments in bio-organic chemistry N2 - This review presents recommended nomenclature for the biosynthesis of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs), a rapidly growing class of natural products. The current knowledge regarding the biosynthesis of the >20 distinct compound classes is also reviewed, and commonalities are discussed. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c2np20085f SN - 0265-0568 VL - 30 IS - 1 SP - 108 EP - 160 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheiner, Ricarda A1 - Abramson, Charles I. A1 - Brodschneider, Robert A1 - Crailsheim, Karl A1 - Farina, Walter M. A1 - Fuchs, Stefan A1 - Grünewald, Bernd A1 - Hahshold, Sybille A1 - Karrer, Marlene A1 - Koeniger, Gudrun A1 - Königer, Niko A1 - Menzel, Randolf A1 - Mujagic, Samir A1 - Radspieler, Gerald A1 - Schmickl, Thomas A1 - Schneider, Christof A1 - Siegel, Adam J. A1 - Szopek, Martina A1 - Thenius, Ronald T1 - Standard methods for behavioural studies of Apis mellifera JF - Journal of apicultural research N2 - In this BEEBOOK paper we present a set of established methods for quantifying honey bee behaviour. We start with general methods for preparing bees for behavioural assays. Then we introduce assays for quantifying sensory responsiveness to gustatory, visual and olfactory stimuli. Presentation of more complex behaviours like appetitive and aversive learning under controlled laboratory conditions and learning paradigms under free-flying conditions will allow the reader to investigate a large range of cognitive skills in honey bees. Honey bees are very sensitive to changing temperatures. We therefore present experiments which aim at analysing honey bee locomotion in temperature gradients. The complex flight behaviour of honey bees can be investigated under controlled conditions in the laboratory or with sophisticated technologies like harmonic radar or RFID in the field. These methods will be explained in detail in different sections. Honey bees are model organisms in behavioural biology for their complex yet plastic division of labour. To observe the daily behaviour of individual bees in a colony, classical observation hives are very useful. The setting up and use of typical observation hives will be the focus of another section. The honey bee dance language has important characteristics of a real language and has been the focus of numerous studies. We here discuss the background of the honey bee dance language and describe how it can be studied. Finally, the mating of a honey bee queen with drones is essential to survival of the entire colony. We here give detailed and structured information how the mating behaviour of drones and queens can be observed and experimentally manipulated. The ultimate goal of this chapter is to provide the reader with a comprehensive set of experimental protocols for detailed studies on all aspects of honey bee behaviour including investigation of pesticide and insecticide effects. KW - COLOSS KW - BEEBOOK KW - honey bee KW - behaviour KW - gustatory responsiveness KW - olfactory responsiveness KW - phototaxis KW - non-associative learning KW - associative learning KW - appetitive learning KW - aversive learning KW - locomotion KW - temperature sensing KW - honey bee flight KW - observation hive KW - honey bee dance KW - honey bee navigation KW - harmonic radar KW - BeeScan KW - RFID KW - honey bee mating KW - free-flying honey bees Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.52.4.04 SN - 0021-8839 SN - 2078-6913 VL - 52 IS - 4 PB - International Bee Research Association CY - Cardiff ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sengupta, Saswati A1 - Chattopadhyay, Madhab K. A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - The multifaceted roles of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in nature JF - Frontiers in microbiology N2 - Antibiotics are chemotherapeutic agents, which have been a very powerful tool in the clinical management of bacterial diseases since the 1940s. However, benefits offered by these magic bullets have been substantially lost in subsequent days following the widespread emergence and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant strains. While it is obvious that excessive and imprudent use of antibiotics significantly contributes to the emergence of resistant strains, antibiotic resistance is also observed in natural bacteria of remote places unlikely to be impacted by human intervention. Both antibiotic biosynthetic genes and resistance-conferring genes have been known to evolve billions of years ago, long before clinical use of antibiotics. Hence it appears that antibiotics and antibiotics resistance determinants have some other roles in nature, which often elude our attention because of overemphasis on the therapeutic importance of antibiotics and the crisis imposed by the antibiotic resistance in pathogens. In the natural milieu, antibiotics are often found to be present in sub-inhibitory concentrations acting as signaling molecules supporting the process of quorum sensing and biofilm formation. They also play an important role in the production of virulence factors and influence host-parasite interactions (e.g., phagocytosis, adherence to the target cell, and so on). The evolutionary and ecological aspects of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in the naturally occurring microbial community are little understood. Therefore, the actual role of antibiotics in nature warrants in-depth investigations. Studies on such an intriguing behavior of the microorganisms promise insight into the intricacies of the microbial physiology and are likely to provide some lead in controlling the emergence and subsequent dissemination of antibiotic resistance. This article highlights some of the recent findings on the role of antibiotics and the genes that confer resistance to antibiotics in nature. KW - antibiotics KW - sub-inhibitory concentration KW - quorum sensing KW - virulence KW - stress response KW - antibiotic resistance KW - antibiotic paradox Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00047 SN - 1664-302X VL - 4 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sharma, Tripti A1 - Dreyer, Ingo A1 - Riedelsberger, Janin T1 - The role of K+ channels in uptake and redistribution of potassium in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - Potassium (K+) is inevitable for plant growth and development. It plays a crucial role in the regulation of enzyme activities, in adjusting the electrical membrane potential and the cellular turgor, in regulating cellular homeostasis and in the stabilization of protein synthesis. Uptake of K+ from the soil and its transport to growing organs is essential for a healthy plant development. Uptake and allocation of K+ are performed by K+ channels and transporters belonging to different protein families. In this review we summarize the knowledge on the versatile physiological roles of plant K+ channels and their behavior under stress conditions in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. KW - plant potassium channel KW - Shaker KW - TPK KW - K-ir-like KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - voltage-dependent KW - voltage-independent Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2013.00224 SN - 1664-462X VL - 4 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -