TY - JOUR A1 - Herter, Susanne A1 - McKenna, Shane M. A1 - Frazer, Andrew R. A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Carnell, Andrew J. A1 - Turner, Nicholas J. T1 - Galactose Oxidase Variants for the Oxidation of Amino Alcohols in Enzyme Cascade Synthesis JF - ChemCatChem : heterogeneous & homogeneous & bio- & nano-catalysis ; a journal of ChemPubSoc Europe N2 - The use of selected engineered galactose oxidase (GOase) variants for the oxidation of amino alcohols to aldehydes under mild conditions in aqueous systems is reported. GOase variant F-2 catalyses the regioselective oxidation of N-carbobenzyloxy (Cbz)-protected 3-amino-1,2-propanediol to the corresponding -hydroxyaldehyde which was then used in an aldolase reaction. Another variant, M3-5, was found to exhibit activity towards free and N-Cbz-protected aliphatic and aromatic amino alcohols allowing the synthesis of lactams such as 3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one, 2-pyrrolidone and valerolactam in one-pot tandem reactions with xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) or aldehyde oxidase (PaoABC). KW - aldehyde oxidase KW - amino alcohols KW - cascade reactions KW - enzyme catalysis KW - lactams Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201500218 SN - 1867-3880 SN - 1867-3899 VL - 7 IS - 15 SP - 2313 EP - 2317 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Üstün, Suayib A1 - Bartetzko, Verena A1 - Börnke, Frederik T1 - The Xanthomonas effector XopJ triggers a conditional hypersensitive response upon treatment of N. benthamiana leaves with salicylic acid JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - XopJ is a Xanthomonas type III effector protein that promotes bacterial virulence on susceptible pepper plants through the inhibition of the host cell proteasome and a resultant suppression of salicylic acid (SA) - dependent defense responses. We show here that Nicotiana benthamiana leaves transiently expressing XopJ display hypersensitive response (HR) -like symptoms when exogenously treated with SA. This apparent avirulence function of XopJ was further dependent on effector myristoylation as well as on an intact catalytic triad, suggesting a requirement of its enzymatic activity for HR-like symptom elicitation. The ability of XopJ to cause a HR-like symptom development upon SA treatment was lost upon silencing of SGT1 and NDR1, respectively, but was independent of EDS1 silencing, suggesting that XopJ is recognized by an R protein of the CC-NBS-LRR class. Furthermore, silencing of NPR1 abolished the elicitation of HR-like symptoms in XopJ expressing leaves after SA application. Measurement of the proteasome activity indicated that proteasome inhibition by XopJ was alleviated in the presence of SA, an effect that was not observed in NPR1 silenced plants. Our results suggest that XopJ - triggered HR-like symptoms are closely related to the virulence function of the effector and that XopJ follows a two-signal model in order to elicit a response in the non-host plant N. benthamiana. KW - Xanthomonas KW - type-III effector KW - XopJ KW - avirulence KW - salicylic acid Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00599 SN - 1664-462X VL - 6 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Klemm, Juliane A1 - Epp, Laura Saskia A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Genetic data from algae sedimentary DNA reflect the influence of environment over geography JF - Scientific reports N2 - Genetic investigations on eukaryotic plankton confirmed the existence of modern biogeographic patterns, but analyses of palaeoecological data exploring the temporal variability of these patterns have rarely been presented. Ancient sedimentary DNA proved suitable for investigations of past assemblage turnover in the course of environmental change, but genetic relatedness of the identified lineages has not yet been undertaken. Here, we investigate the relatedness of diatom lineages in Siberian lakes along environmental gradients (i.e. across treeline transects), over geographic distance and through time (i.e. the last 7000 years) using modern and ancient sedimentary DNA. Our results indicate that closely-related Staurosira lineages occur in similar environments and less-related lineages in dissimilar environments, in our case different vegetation and co-varying climatic and limnic variables across treeline transects. Thus our study reveals that environmental conditions rather than geographic distance is reflected by diatom-relatedness patterns in space and time. We tentatively speculate that the detected relatedness pattern in Staurosira across the treeline could be a result of adaptation to diverse environmental conditions across the arctic boreal treeline, however, a geographically-driven divergence and subsequent repopulation of ecologically different habitats might also be a potential explanation for the observed pattern. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep12924 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 5 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hartmann, Stefanie A1 - Hasenkamp, Natascha A1 - Mayer, Jens A1 - Michaux, Johan A1 - Morand, Serge A1 - Mazzoni, Camila J. A1 - Roca, Alfred L. A1 - Greenwood, Alex D. T1 - Endogenous murine leukemia retroviral variation across wild European and inbred strains of house mouse JF - BMC genomics N2 - Background: Endogenous murine leukemia retroviruses (MLVs) are high copy number proviral elements difficult to comprehensively characterize using standard low throughput sequencing approaches. However, high throughput approaches generate data that is challenging to process, interpret and present. Results: Next generation sequencing (NGS) data was generated for MLVs from two wild caught Mus musculus domesticus (from mainland France and Corsica) and for inbred laboratory mouse strains C3H, LP/J and SJL. Sequence reads were grouped using a novel sequence clustering approach as applied to retroviral sequences. A Markov cluster algorithm was employed, and the sequence reads were queried for matches to specific xenotropic (Xmv), polytropic (Pmv) and modified polytropic (Mpmv) viral reference sequences. Conclusions: Various MLV subtypes were more widespread than expected among the mice, which may be due to the higher coverage of NGS, or to the presence of similar sequence across many different proviral loci. The results did not correlate with variation in the major MLV receptor Xpr1, which can restrict exogenous MLVs, suggesting that endogenous MLV distribution may reflect gene flow more than past resistance to infection. KW - Murine leukemia virus KW - Endogenous retrovirus KW - Xpr1 KW - XMRV KW - Genomic evolution KW - Markov cluster algorithm Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-1766-z SN - 1471-2164 VL - 16 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jetzschmann, Katharina J. A1 - Jagerszki, Gyula A1 - Dechtrirat, Decha A1 - Yarman, Aysu A1 - Gajovic-Eichelmann, Nenad A1 - Gilsing, Hans-Detlev A1 - Schulz, Burkhard A1 - Gyurcsanyi, Robert E. A1 - Scheller, Frieder W. T1 - Vectorially Imprinted Hybrid Nanofilm for Acetylcholinesterase Recognition JF - Advanced functional materials N2 - Effective recognition of enzymatically active tetrameric acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is accomplished by a hybrid nanofilm composed of a propidium-terminated self-assembled monolayer (Prop-SAM) which binds AChE via its peripheral anionic site (PAS) and an ultrathin electrosynthesized molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) cover layer of a novel carboxylate-modified derivative of 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene. The rebinding of the AChE to the MIP/Prop-SAM nanofilm covered electrode is detected by measuring in situ the enzymatic activity. The oxidative current of the released thiocholine is dependent on the AChE concentration from approximate to 0.04 x 10(-6) to 0.4 x 10(-6)m. An imprinting factor of 9.9 is obtained for the hybrid MIP, which is among the best values reported for protein imprinting. The dissociation constant characterizing the strength of the MIP-AChE binding is 4.2 x 10(-7)m indicating the dominant role of the PAS-Prop-SAM interaction, while the benefit of the MIP nanofilm covering the Prop-SAM layer is the effective suppression of the cross-reactivity toward competing proteins as compared with the Prop-SAM. The threefold selectivity gain provided by i) the shape-specific MIP filter, ii) the propidium-SAM, iii) signal generation only by the AChE bound to the nanofilm shows promise for assessing AChE activity levels in cerebrospinal fluid. KW - acetylcholinesterase KW - biomimetic sensors KW - molecularly imprinted electropolymers KW - peripheral anionic site KW - propidium Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201501900 SN - 1616-301X SN - 1616-3028 VL - 25 IS - 32 SP - 5178 EP - 5183 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Werner, Tony A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - Soil biota effects on local abundances of three grass species along a land-use gradient JF - Oecologia N2 - Biotic plant-soil interactions and land-use intensity are known to affect plant individual fitness as well as competitiveness and therefore plant-species abundances in communities. Therefore, a link between soil biota and land-use intensity on local abundance of plant species in grasslands can be expected. In two greenhouse experiments, we investigated the effects of soil biota from grassland sites differing in land-use intensity on three grass species that vary in local abundances along this land-use gradient. We were interested in those soil-biota effects that are associated with land-use intensity, and whether these effects act directly or indirectly. Therefore, we grew the three plant species in two separate experiments as single individuals and in mixtures and compared their performance. As single plants, all three grasses showed a similar performance with and without soil biota. In contrast, in mixtures growth of the species in response to the presence or absence of soil biota differed. This resulted in different soil-biota effects that tend to correspond with patterns of species-specific abundances in the field for two of the three species tested. Our results highlight the importance of indirect interactions between plants and soil microorganisms and suggest that combined effects of soil biota and plant-plant interactions are involved in structuring plant communities. In conclusion, our experiments suggest that soil biota may have the potential to alter effects of plant-plant interactions and therefore influence plant-species abundances and diversity in grasslands. KW - Biodiversity KW - Grassland KW - Land-use intensity KW - Community composition KW - Plant-soil feedback Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3336-0 SN - 0029-8549 SN - 1432-1939 VL - 179 IS - 1 SP - 249 EP - 259 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Garcia, Sarahi L. A1 - Buck, Moritz A1 - McMahon, Katherine D. A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Eiler, Alexander A1 - Warnecke, Falk T1 - Auxotrophy and intrapopulation complementary in the "interactome' of a cultivated freshwater model community JF - Molecular ecology N2 - Microorganisms are usually studied either in highly complex natural communities or in isolation as monoclonal model populations that we manage to grow in the laboratory. Here, we uncover the biology of some of the most common and yet-uncultured bacteria in freshwater environments using a mixed culture from Lake Grosse Fuchskuhle. From a single shotgun metagenome of a freshwater mixed culture of low complexity, we recovered four high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for metabolic reconstruction. This analysis revealed the metabolic interconnectedness and niche partitioning of these naturally dominant bacteria. In particular, vitamin- and amino acid biosynthetic pathways were distributed unequally with a member of Crenarchaeota most likely being the sole producer of vitamin B12 in the mixed culture. Using coverage-based partitioning of the genes recovered from a single MAG intrapopulation metabolic complementarity was revealed pointing to social' interactions for the common good of populations dominating freshwater plankton. As such, our MAGs highlight the power of mixed cultures to extract naturally occurring interactomes' and to overcome our inability to isolate and grow the microbes dominating in nature. KW - community KW - cultures KW - interactions KW - metagenomics KW - populations Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13319 SN - 0962-1083 SN - 1365-294X VL - 24 IS - 17 SP - 4449 EP - 4459 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Garapati, Prashanth A1 - Feil, Regina A1 - Lunn, John Edward A1 - Van Dijck, Patrick A1 - Balazadeh, Salma A1 - Müller-Röber, Bernd T1 - Transcription Factor Arabidopsis Activating Factor1 Integrates Carbon Starvation Responses with Trehalose Metabolism JF - Plant physiology : an international journal devoted to physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, biophysics and environmental biology of plants N2 - Plants respond to low carbon supply by massive reprogramming of the transcriptome and metabolome. We show here that the carbon starvation-induced NAC (for NO APICAL MERISTEM/ARABIDOPSIS TRANSCRIPTION ACTIVATION FACTOR/CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON) transcription factor Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Transcription Activation Factor1 (ATAF1) plays an important role in this physiological process. We identified TREHALASE1, the only trehalase-encoding gene in Arabidopsis, as a direct downstream target of ATAF1. Overexpression of ATAF1 activates TREHALASE1 expression and leads to reduced trehalose-6-phosphate levels and a sugar starvation metabolome. In accordance with changes in expression of starch biosynthesis-and breakdown-related genes, starch levels are generally reduced in ATAF1 overexpressors but elevated in ataf1 knockout plants. At the global transcriptome level, genes affected by ATAF1 are broadly associated with energy and carbon starvation responses. Furthermore, transcriptional responses triggered by ATAF1 largely overlap with expression patterns observed in plants starved for carbon or energy supply. Collectively, our data highlight the existence of a positively acting feedforward loop between ATAF1 expression, which is induced by carbon starvation, and the depletion of cellular carbon/energy pools that is triggered by the transcriptional regulation of downstream gene regulatory networks by ATAF1. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.00917 SN - 0032-0889 SN - 1532-2548 VL - 169 IS - 1 SP - 379 EP - 390 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Albert, Aurelie A1 - Auffret, Alistair G. A1 - Cosyns, Eric A1 - Cousins, Sara A. O. A1 - Eichberg, Carsten A1 - Eycott, Amy E. A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hoffmann, Maurice A1 - Jaroszewicz, Bogdan A1 - Malo, Juan E. A1 - Marell, Anders A1 - Mouissie, Maarten A1 - Pakeman, Robin J. A1 - Picard, Melanie A1 - Plue, Jan A1 - Poschlod, Peter A1 - Provoost, Sam A1 - Schulze, Kiowa Alraune A1 - Baltzinger, Christophe T1 - Seed dispersal by ungulates as an ecological filter: a trait-based meta-analysis JF - Oikos N2 - Plant communities are often dispersal-limited and zoochory can be an efficient mechanism for plants to colonize new patches of potentially suitable habitat. We predicted that seed dispersal by ungulates acts as an ecological filter - which differentially affects individuals according to their characteristics and shapes species assemblages - and that the filter varies according to the dispersal mechanism (endozoochory, fur-epizoochory and hoof-epizoochory). We conducted two-step individual participant data meta-analyses of 52 studies on plant dispersal by ungulates in fragmented landscapes, comparing eight plant traits and two habitat indicators between dispersed and non-dispersed plants. We found that ungulates dispersed at least 44% of the available plant species. Moreover, some plant traits and habitat indicators increased the likelihood for plant of being dispersed. Persistent or nitrophilous plant species from open habitats or bearing dry or elongated diaspores were more likely to be dispersed by ungulates, whatever the dispersal mechanism. In addition, endozoochory was more likely for diaspores bearing elongated appendages whereas epizoochory was more likely for diaspores released relatively high in vegetation. Hoof-epizoochory was more likely for light diaspores without hooked appendages. Fur-epizoochory was more likely for diaspores with appendages, particularly elongated or hooked ones. We thus observed a gradient of filtering effect among the three dispersal mechanisms. Endozoochory had an effect of rather weak intensity (impacting six plant characteristics with variations between ungulate-dispersed and non-dispersed plant species mostly below 25%), whereas hoof-epizoochory had a stronger effect (eight characteristics included five ones with above 75% variation), and fur-epizoochory an even stronger one (nine characteristics included six ones with above 75% variation). Our results demonstrate that seed dispersal by ungulates is an ecological filter whose intensity varies according to the dispersal mechanism considered. Ungulates can thus play a key role in plant community dynamics and have implications for plant spatial distribution patterns at multiple scales. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.02512 SN - 0030-1299 SN - 1600-0706 VL - 124 IS - 9 SP - 1109 EP - 1120 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Marzetz, Vanessa A1 - Spijkerman, Elly T1 - Interspecific competition in phytoplankton drives the availability of essential mineral and biochemical nutrients JF - Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America N2 - The underlying mechanisms and consequences of competition and diversity are central themes in ecology. A higher diversity of primary producers often results in higher resource use efficiency in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. This may result in more food for consumers on one hand, while, on the other hand, it can also result in a decreased food quality for consumers; higher biomass combined with the same availability of the limiting compound directly reduces the dietary proportion of the limiting compound. Here we tested whether and how interspecific competition in phytoplankton communities leads to changes in resource use efficiency and cellular concentrations of nutrients and fatty acids. The measured particulate carbon : phosphorus ratios (C:P) and fatty acid concentrations in the communities were compared to the theoretically expected ratios and concentrations of measurements on simultaneously running monocultures. With interspecific competition, phytoplankton communities had higher concentrations of the monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid and also much higher concentrations of the ecologically and physiologically relevant long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid than expected concentrations based on monocultures. Such higher availability of essential fatty acids may contribute to the positive relationship between phytoplankton diversity and zooplankton growth, and may compensate limitations by mineral nutrients in higher trophic levels. KW - biodiversity KW - C:P ratio KW - competition KW - eicosapentaenoic acid KW - elemental composition KW - EPA KW - food quality KW - minerals KW - phosphorus KW - polyunsaturated fatty acids KW - PUFA KW - resource use efficiency Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1915.1 SN - 0012-9658 SN - 1939-9170 VL - 96 IS - 9 SP - 2467 EP - 2477 PB - Wiley CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mazumder, Mostafizur A1 - Brechun, Katherine E. A1 - Kim, Yongjoo B. A1 - Hoffmann, Stefan A. A1 - Chen, Yih Yang A1 - Keiski, Carrie-Lynn A1 - Arndt, Katja Maren A1 - McMillen, David R. A1 - Woolley, G. Andrew T1 - An Escherichia coli system for evolving improved light-controlled DNA-binding proteins JF - Protein engineering design & selection N2 - Light-switchable proteins offer numerous opportunities as tools for manipulating biological systems with exceptional degrees of spatiotemporal control. Most designed light-switchable proteins currently in use have not been optimised using the randomisation and selection/screening approaches that are widely used in other areas of protein engineering. Here we report an approach for screening light-switchable DNA-binding proteins that relies on light-dependent repression of the transcription of a fluorescent reporter. We demonstrate that the method can be used to recover a known light-switchable DNA-binding protein from a random library. KW - directed evolution KW - fluorescent reporter KW - optogenetics Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/protein/gzv033 SN - 1741-0126 SN - 1741-0134 VL - 28 IS - 9 SP - 293 EP - 302 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cornetti, Luca A1 - Valente, Luis M. A1 - Dunning, Luke T. A1 - Quan, Xueping A1 - Black, Richard A. A1 - Hebert, Olivier A1 - Savolainen, Vincent T1 - The Genome of the "Great Speciator" Provides Insights into Bird Diversification JF - Genome biology and evolution N2 - Among birds, white-eyes (genusZosterops) have diversified so extensively that Jared Diamond and Ernst Mayr referred to them as the 'great speciator." The Zosterops lineage exhibits some of the fastest rates of species diversification among vertebrates, and its members are the most prolific passerine island colonizers. We present a high-quality genome assembly for the silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), a white-eye species consisting of several subspecies distributed across multiple islands. We investigate the genetic basis of rapid diversification in white-eyes by conducting genomic analyses at varying taxonomic levels. First, we compare the silvereye genome with those of birds from different families and searched for genomic features that may be unique to Zosterops. Second, we compare the genomes of different species of white-eyes from Lifou island (South Pacific), using whole genome resequencing and restriction site associated DNA. Third, we contrast the genomes of two subspecies of silvereye that differ in plumage color. In accordance with theory, we show that white-eyes have high rates of substitutions, gene duplication, and positive selection relative to other birds. Below genus level, we find that genomic differentiation accumulates rapidly and reveals contrasting demographic histories between sympatric species on Lifou, indicative of past interspecific interactions. Finally, we highlight genes possibly involved in color polymorphism between the subspecies of silvereye. By providing the first whole-genome sequence resources for white-eyes and by conducting analyses at different taxonomic levels, we provide genomic evidence underpinning this extraordinary bird radiation. KW - genome evolution KW - positive selection KW - gene duplication KW - phylogenomics KW - demography KW - morphological divergence Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evv168 SN - 1759-6653 VL - 7 IS - 9 SP - 2680 EP - 2691 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mossbrucker, Alexander Markus A1 - Apriyana, Isabella A1 - Fickel, Jörns A1 - Imron, Muhammad Ali A1 - Pudyatmoko, Satyawan A1 - Sumardi, A1 - Suryadi, Helena T1 - Non-invasive genotyping of Sumatran elephants: implications for conservation JF - Tropical conservation science N2 - Reliable baseline information necessary for the monitoring and conservation of Sumatran elephants is scarce. We here combine non-invasive molecular genetics methods and capture-recapture modeling to estimate elephant population size, distribution, sex ratio, and age structure for the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape in Sumatra, Indonesia. Two separate subpopulations were found, for which we estimated a population size of 99 (95% CI = [86, 125], PCCL = 38.59%) and 44 elephants (95% CI = [37, 56], PCCL = 43.18%), respectively. Low elephant densities are likely the result of patchy habitat usage and anthropogenically increased mortality, the latter assumption being supported by strong skews in both sex ratio and age structure as well as direct evidence of elephant killing. Still, the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape currently holds the largest known population of elephants in central Sumatra, representing one of the most important areas for their conservation in Indonesia. Conservation of both the elephant population and their habitat in this region should thus be of high priority. We identified several threats to the population, including (i) the risk of inbreeding and subsequent loss of genetic diversity, (ii) illegal elephant killing, and (iii) the lack of protected habitat. In order to overcome these challenges we suggest: (i) the implementation of a meta-population management program, (ii) monitoring and safeguarding elephants and improving law enforcement, and (iii) providing sufficient safe habitat to mitigate human-elephant-conflict (HEC) and ensure elephant survival. KW - Elephas maximus sumatranus KW - capture-recapture modeling KW - abundance estimation KW - sex ratio KW - age structure KW - Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape Y1 - 2015 SN - 1940-0829 VL - 8 IS - 3 SP - 745 EP - 759 PB - Mongabay.com CY - Menlo Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van Kleunen, Mark A1 - Dawson, Wayne A1 - Essl, Franz A1 - Pergl, Jan A1 - Winter, Marten A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Kreft, Holger A1 - Weigelt, Patrick A1 - Kartesz, John A1 - Nishino, Misako A1 - Antonova, Liubov A. A1 - Barcelona, Julie F. A1 - Cabezas, Francisco J. A1 - Cardenas, Dairon A1 - Cardenas-Toro, Juliana A1 - Castano, Nicolas A1 - Chacon, Eduardo A1 - Chatelain, Cyrille A1 - Ebel, Aleksandr L. A1 - Figueiredo, Estrela A1 - Fuentes, Nicol A1 - Groom, Quentin J. A1 - Henderson, Lesley A1 - Inderjit, A1 - Kupriyanov, Andrey A1 - Masciadri, Silvana A1 - Meerman, Jan A1 - Morozova, Olga A1 - Moser, Dietmar A1 - Nickrent, Daniel L. A1 - Patzelt, Annette A1 - Pelser, Pieter B. A1 - Baptiste, Maria P. A1 - Poopath, Manop A1 - Schulze, Maria A1 - Seebens, Hanno A1 - Shu, Wen-sheng A1 - Thomas, Jacob A1 - Velayos, Mauricio A1 - Wieringa, Jan J. A1 - Pysek, Petr T1 - Global exchange and accumulation of non-native plants JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science N2 - All around the globe, humans have greatly altered the abiotic and biotic environment with ever-increasing speed. One defining feature of the Anthropocene epoch(1,2) is the erosion of biogeographical barriers by human-mediated dispersal of species into new regions, where they can naturalize and cause ecological, economic and social damage(3). So far, no comprehensive analysis of the global accumulation and exchange of alien plant species between continents has been performed, primarily because of a lack of data. Here we bridge this knowledge gap by using a unique global database on the occurrences of naturalized alien plant species in 481 mainland and 362 island regions. In total, 13,168 plant species, corresponding to 3.9% of the extant global vascular flora, or approximately the size of the native European flora, have become naturalized somewhere on the globe as a result of human activity. North America has accumulated the largest number of naturalized species, whereas the Pacific Islands show the fastest increase in species numbers with respect to their land area. Continents in the Northern Hemisphere have been the major donors of naturalized alien species to all other continents. Our results quantify for the first time the extent of plant naturalizations worldwide, and illustrate the urgent need for globally integrated efforts to control, manage and understand the spread of alien species. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14910 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 525 IS - 7567 SP - 100 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lamanna, Francesco A1 - Kirschbaum, Frank A1 - Waurick, Isabelle A1 - Dieterich, Christoph A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Cross-tissue and cross-species analysis of gene expression in skeletal muscle and electric organ of African weakly-electric fish (Teleostei; Mormyridae) JF - BMC genomics N2 - Background: African weakly-electric fishes of the family Mormyridae are able to produce and perceive weak electric signals (typically less than one volt in amplitude) owing to the presence of a specialized, muscle-derived electric organ (EO) in their tail region. Such electric signals, also known as Electric Organ Discharges (EODs), are used for objects/prey localization, for the identification of conspecifics, and in social and reproductive behaviour. This feature might have promoted the adaptive radiation of this family by acting as an effective pre-zygotic isolation mechanism. Despite the physiological and evolutionary importance of this trait, the investigation of the genetic basis of its function and modification has so far remained limited. In this study, we aim at: i) identifying constitutive differences in terms of gene expression between electric organ and skeletal muscle (SM) in two mormyrid species of the genus Campylomormyrus: C. compressirostris and C. tshokwe, and ii) exploring cross-specific patterns of gene expression within the two tissues among C. compressirostris, C. tshokwe, and the outgroup species Gnathonemus petersii. Results: Twelve paired-end (100 bp) strand-specific RNA-seq Illumina libraries were sequenced, producing circa 330 M quality-filtered short read pairs. The obtained reads were assembled de novo into four reference transcriptomes. In silico cross-tissue DE-analysis allowed us to identify 271 shared differentially expressed genes between EO and SM in C. compressirostris and C. tshokwe. Many of these genes correspond to myogenic factors, ion channels and pumps, and genes involved in several metabolic pathways. Cross-species analysis has revealed that the electric organ transcriptome is more variable in terms of gene expression levels across species than the skeletal muscle transcriptome. Conclusions: The data obtained indicate that: i) the loss of contractile activity and the decoupling of the excitation-contraction processes are reflected by the down-regulation of the corresponding genes in the electric organ's transcriptome; ii) the metabolic activity of the EO might be specialized towards the production and turn-over of membrane structures; iii) several ion channels are highly expressed in the EO in order to increase excitability; iv) several myogenic factors might be down-regulated by transcription repressors in the EO. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-1858-9 SN - 1471-2164 VL - 16 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Riedelsberger, Janin A1 - Dreyer, Ingo A1 - Gonzalez, Wendy T1 - Outward Rectification of Voltage-Gated K+ Channels Evolved at Least Twice in Life History JF - PLoS one N2 - Voltage-gated potassium (K+) channels are present in all living systems. Despite high structural similarities in the transmembrane domains (TMD), this K+ channel type segregates into at least two main functional categories-hyperpolarization-activated, inward-rectifying (Kin) and depolarization-activated, outward-rectifying (Kout) channels. Voltage-gated K+ channels sense the membrane voltage via a voltage-sensing domain that is connected to the conduction pathway of the channel. It has been shown that the voltage-sensing mechanism is the same in Kin and Kout channels, but its performance results in opposite pore conformations. It is not known how the different coupling of voltage-sensor and pore is implemented. Here, we studied sequence and structural data of voltage-gated K+ channels from animals and plants with emphasis on the property of opposite rectification. We identified structural hotspots that alone allow already the distinction between Kin and Kout channels. Among them is a loop between TMD S5 and the pore that is very short in animal Kout, longer in plant and animal Kin and the longest in plant Kout channels. In combination with further structural and phylogenetic analyses this finding suggests that outward-rectification evolved twice and independently in the animal and plant kingdom. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137600 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 10 IS - 9 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hahn, Aaron A1 - Engelhard, Christopher A1 - Reschke, Stefan A1 - Teutloff, Christian A1 - Bittl, Robert A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Risse, Thomas T1 - Structural Insights into the Incorporation of the Mo Cofactor into Sulfite Oxidase from Site-Directed Spin Labeling JF - Angewandte Chemie : a journal of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker ; International edition N2 - Mononuclear molybdoenzymes catalyze a broad range of redox reactions and are highly conserved in all kingdoms of life. This study addresses the question of how the Mo cofactor (Moco) is incorporated into the apo form of human sulfite oxidase (hSO) by using site-directed spin labeling to determine intramolecular distances in the nanometer range. Comparative measurements of the holo and apo forms of hSO enabled the localization of the corresponding structural changes, which are localized to a short loop (residues 263-273) of the Moco-containing domain. A flap-like movement of the loop provides access to the Moco binding-pocket in the apo form of the protein and explains the earlier studies on the in vitro reconstitution of apo-hSO with Moco. Remarkably, the loop motif can be found in a variety of structurally similar molybdoenzymes among various organisms, thus suggesting a common mechanism of Moco incorporation. KW - biocatalysis KW - cofactors KW - enzymes KW - EPR spectroscopy KW - protein structures Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201504772 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 54 IS - 40 SP - 11865 EP - 11869 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zeng, Ting A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Koetz, Joachim A1 - Wollenberger, Ursula T1 - Effective Electrochemistry of Human Sulfite Oxidase Immobilized on Quantum-Dots-Modified Indium Tin Oxide Electrode JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces N2 - The bioelectrocatalytic sulfite oxidation by human sulfite oxidase (hSO) on indium tin oxide (ITO) is reported, which is facilitated by functionalizing of the electrode surface with polyethylenimine (PEI)-entrapped CdS nanoparticles and enzyme. hSO was assembled onto the electrode with a high surface loading of electroactive enzyme. In the presence of sulfite but without additional mediators, a high bioelectrocatalytic current was generated. Reference experiments with only PEI showed direct electron transfer and catalytic activity of hSO, but these were less pronounced. The application of the polyelectrolyte-entrapped quantum dots (QDs) on ITO electrodes provides a compatible surface for enzyme binding with promotion of electron transfer. Variations of the buffer solution conditions, e.g., ionic strength, pH, viscosity, and the effect of oxygen, were studied in order to understand intramolecular and heterogeneous electron transfer from hSO to the electrode. The results are consistent with a model derived for the enzyme by using flash photolysis in solution and spectroelectrochemistry and molecular dynamic simulations of hSO on monolayer-modified gold electrodes. Moreover, for the first time a photoelectrochemical electrode involving immobilized hSO is demonstrated where photoexcitation of the CdS/hSO-modified electrode lead to an enhanced generation of bioelectrocatalytic currents upon sulfite addition. Oxidation starts already at the redox potential of the electron transfer domain of hSO and is greatly increased by application of a small overpotential to the CdS/hSO-modified ITO. KW - human sulfite oxidase KW - direct electrochemistry KW - bioelectrocatalysis KW - photocurrent KW - CdS quantum dots Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b06665 SN - 1944-8244 VL - 7 IS - 38 SP - 21487 EP - 21494 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Springer, Mark S. A1 - Signore, Anthony V. A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Velez-Juarbe, Jorge A1 - Domning, Daryl P. A1 - Bauer, Cameron E. A1 - He, Kai A1 - Crerar, Lorelei A1 - Campos, Paula F. A1 - Murphy, William J. A1 - Meredith, Robert W. A1 - Gatesy, John A1 - Willerslev, Eske A1 - MacPhee, Ross D. E. A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Campbell, Kevin L. T1 - Interordinal gene capture, the phylogenetic position of Steller's sea cow based on molecular and morphological data, and the macroevolutionary history of Sirenia JF - Molecular phylogenetics and evolution N2 - The recently extinct (ca. 1768) Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was a large, edentulous North Pacific sirenian. The phylogenetic affinities of this taxon to other members of this clade, living and extinct, are uncertain based on previous morphological and molecular studies. We employed hybridization capture methods and second generation sequencing technology to obtain >30 kb of exon sequences from 26 nuclear genes for both H. gigas and Dugong dugon. We also obtained complete coding sequences for the tooth-related enamelin (ENAM) gene. Hybridization probes designed using dugong and manatee sequences were both highly effective in retrieving sequences from H. gigas (mean = 98.8% coverage), as were more divergent probes for regions of ENAM (99.0% coverage) that were designed exclusively from a proboscidean (African elephant) and a hyracoid (Cape hyrax). New sequences were combined with available sequences for representatives of all other afrotherian orders. We also expanded a previously published morphological matrix for living and fossil Sirenia by adding both new taxa and nine new postcranial characters. Maximum likelihood and parsimony analyses of the molecular data provide robust support for an association of H. gigas and D. dugon to the exclusion of living trichechids (manatees). Parsimony analyses of the morphological data also support the inclusion of H. gigas in Dugongidae with D. dugon and fossil dugongids. Timetree analyses based on calibration density approaches with hard- and soft-bounded constraints suggest that H. gigas and D. dugon diverged in the Oligocene and that crown sirenians last shared a common ancestor in the Eocene. The coding sequence for the ENAM gene in H. gigas does not contain frameshift mutations or stop codons, but there is a transversion mutation (AG to CG) in the acceptor splice site of intron 2. This disruption in the edentulous Steller's sea cow is consistent with previous studies that have documented inactivating mutations in tooth-specific loci of a variety of edentulous and enamelless vertebrates including birds, turtles, aardvarks, pangolins, xenarthrans, and baleen whales. Further, branch-site dN/dS analyses provide evidence for positive selection in ENAM on the stem dugongid branch where extensive tooth reduction occurred, followed by neutral evolution on the Hydrodamalis branch. Finally, we present a synthetic evolutionary tree for living and fossil sirenians showing several key innovations in the history of this clade including character state changes that parallel those that occurred in the evolutionary history of cetaceans. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.05.022 SN - 1055-7903 SN - 1095-9513 VL - 91 SP - 178 EP - 193 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bernhardt-Römermann, Markus A1 - Baeten, Lander A1 - Craven, Dylan A1 - De Frenne, Pieter A1 - Hedl, Radim A1 - Lenoir, Jonathan A1 - Bert, Didier A1 - Brunet, Jorg A1 - Chudomelova, Marketa A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - Dierschke, Hartmut A1 - Dirnboeck, Thomas A1 - Dörfler, Inken A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, Martin A1 - Hommel, Patrick A1 - Jaroszewicz, Bogdan A1 - Keczynski, Andrzej A1 - Kelly, Daniel L. A1 - Kirby, Keith J. A1 - Kopecky, Martin A1 - Macek, Martin A1 - Malis, Frantisek A1 - Mirtl, Michael A1 - Mitchell, Fraser J. G. A1 - Naaf, Tobias A1 - Newman, Miles A1 - Peterken, George A1 - Petrik, Petr A1 - Schmidt, Wolfgang A1 - Standovar, Tibor A1 - Toth, Zoltan A1 - Van Calster, Hans A1 - Verstraeten, Gorik A1 - Vladovic, Jozef A1 - Vild, Ondrej A1 - Wulf, Monika A1 - Verheyen, Kris T1 - Drivers of temporal changes in temperate forest plant diversity vary across spatial scales JF - Global change biology N2 - Global biodiversity is affected by numerous environmental drivers. Yet, the extent to which global environmental changes contribute to changes in local diversity is poorly understood. We investigated biodiversity changes in a meta-analysis of 39 resurvey studies in European temperate forests (3988 vegetation records in total, 17-75years between the two surveys) by assessing the importance of (i) coarse-resolution (i.e., among sites) vs. fine-resolution (i.e., within sites) environmental differences and (ii) changing environmental conditions between surveys. Our results clarify the mechanisms underlying the direction and magnitude of local-scale biodiversity changes. While not detecting any net local diversity loss, we observed considerable among-site variation, partly explained by temporal changes in light availability (a local driver) and density of large herbivores (a regional driver). Furthermore, strong evidence was found that presurvey levels of nitrogen deposition determined subsequent diversity changes. We conclude that models forecasting future biodiversity changes should consider coarse-resolution environmental changes, account for differences in baseline environmental conditions and for local changes in fine-resolution environmental conditions. KW - atmospheric nitrogen deposition KW - evenness KW - forestREplot KW - forest management KW - game browsing KW - Shannon diversity KW - spatiotemporal resurvey data KW - species richness Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12993 SN - 1354-1013 SN - 1365-2486 VL - 21 IS - 10 SP - 3726 EP - 3737 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER -