TY - JOUR A1 - Schellenberg, Johannes A1 - Reichert, Jessica A1 - Hardt, Martin A1 - Klingelhöfer, Ines A1 - Morlock, Gertrud A1 - Schubert, Patrick A1 - Bižić, Mina A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Kämpfer, Peter A1 - Wilke, Thomas A1 - Glaeser, Stefanie P. T1 - The bacterial microbiome of the long-term aquarium cultured high-microbial abundance sponge Haliclona cnidata BT - sustained bioactivity despite community shifts under detrimental conditions JF - Frontiers in Marine Science N2 - Marine sponges host highly diverse but specific bacterial communities that provide essential functions for the sponge holobiont, including antimicrobial defense. Here, we characterized the bacterial microbiome of the marine sponge Haliclona cnidata that has been in culture in an artificial marine aquarium system. We tested the hypotheses (1) that the long-term aquarium cultured sponge H. cnidata is tightly associated with a typical sponge bacterial microbiota and (2) that the symbiotic Bacteria sustain bioactivity under harmful environmental conditions to facilitate holobiont survival by preventing pathogen invasion. Microscopic and phylogenetic analyses of the bacterial microbiota revealed that H. cnidata represents a high microbial abundance (HMA) sponge with a temporally stable bacterial community that significantly shifts with changing aquarium conditions. A 4-week incubation experiment was performed in small closed aquarium systems with antibiotic and/or light exclusion treatments to reduce the total bacterial and photosynthetically active sponge-associated microbiota to a treatment-specific resilient community. While the holobiont was severely affected by the experimental treatment (i.e., bleaching of the sponge, reduced bacterial abundance, shifted bacterial community composition), the biological defense and bacterial community interactions (i.e., quorum sensing activity) remained intact. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed a resilient community of 105 bacterial taxa, which remained in the treated sponges. These 105 taxa accounted for a relative abundance of 72-83% of the bacterial sponge microbiota of non-treated sponge fragments that have been cultured under the same conditions. We conclude that a sponge-specific resilient community stays biologically active under harmful environmental conditions, facilitating the resilience of the holobiont. In H. cnidata, bacteria are located in bacteriocytes, which may have contributed to the observed phenomenon. KW - HMA sponge KW - bacterial symbionts KW - holobiont KW - antimicrobial defense KW - quorum sensing KW - bacteriocytes Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00266 SN - 2296-7745 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Premier, Joseph A1 - Fickel, Jörns A1 - Heurich, Marco A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie T1 - The boon and bane of boldness BT - movement syndrome as saviour and sink for population genetic diversity JF - Movement Ecology N2 - Background: Many felid species are of high conservation concern, and with increasing human disturbance the situation is worsening. Small isolated populations are at risk of genetic impoverishment decreasing within-species biodiversity. Movement is known to be a key behavioural trait that shapes both demographic and genetic dynamics and affects population survival. However, we have limited knowledge on how different manifestations of movement behaviour translate to population processes. In this study, we aimed to 1) understand the potential effects of movement behaviour on the genetic diversity of small felid populations in heterogeneous landscapes, while 2) presenting a simulation tool that can help inform conservation practitioners following, or considering, population management actions targeting the risk of genetic impoverishment. Methods: We developed a spatially explicit individual-based population model including neutral genetic markers for felids and applied this to the example of Eurasian lynx. Using a neutral landscape approach, we simulated reintroductions into a three-patch system, comprising two breeding patches separated by a larger patch of differing landscape heterogeneity, and tested for the effects of various behavioural movement syndromes and founder population sizes. We explored a range of movement syndromes by simulating populations with various movement model parametrisations that range from 'shy' to 'bold' movement behaviour. Results: We find that movement syndromes can lead to a higher loss of genetic diversity and an increase in between population genetic structure for both "bold" and "shy" movement behaviours, depending on landscape conditions, with larger decreases in genetic diversity and larger increases in genetic differentiation associated with bold movement syndromes, where the first colonisers quickly reproduce and subsequently dominate the gene pool. In addition, we underline the fact that a larger founder population can offset the genetic losses associated with subpopulation isolation and gene pool dominance. Conclusions We identified a movement syndrome trade-off for population genetic variation, whereby bold-explorers could be saviours - by connecting populations and promoting panmixia, or sinks - by increasing genetic losses via a 'founder takes all' effect, whereas shy-stayers maintain a more gradual genetic drift due to their more cautious behaviour. Simulations should incorporate movement behaviour to provide better projections of long-term population viability and within-species biodiversity, which includes genetic diversity. Simulations incorporating demographics and genetics have great potential for informing conservation management actions, such as population reintroductions or reinforcements. Here, we present such a simulation tool for solitary felids. KW - Lynx lynx KW - neutral landscape models KW - eurasian lynx KW - natal dispersal KW - home range KW - fragmented landscapes KW - behavioral syndromes KW - habitat loss KW - personality KW - mortality Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00204-y SN - 2051-3933 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Apriyanto, Ardha A1 - Tambunan, Van Basten T1 - The complete mitochondrial genome of oil palm pollinating weevil, Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust BT - (Coleoptera : Curculionidae) JF - Mitochondrial DNA: Part B N2 - Elaeidobius kamerunicusis the most important insect pollinator in oil palm plantations. In this study, the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) ofE. kamerunicus(17.729 bp), a member of the Curculionidae family, will be reported. The mitogenome consisted of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), and a putative control region (CR). Phylogenetic analysis based on 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) using maximum Likelihood (ML) methods indicated thatE. kamerunicusbelongs to the Curculionidae family. This mitochondrial genome provides essential information for understanding genetic populations, phylogenetics, molecular evolution, and other biological applications in this species. KW - Mitogenome KW - oil palm KW - pollinator KW - phylogeny KW - weevil Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2020.1823899 SN - 2380-2359 VL - 5 IS - 3 SP - 3450 EP - 3452 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rybak, Alexander A1 - Bents, Dominik A1 - Krüger, Johanna A1 - Groth, Detlef T1 - The end of the secular trend in Norway BT - spatial trends in body height of Norwegian conscripts in the 19th, 20th and 21st century JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Aim: We aimed to examine the distribution and secular changes of conscript body height in the geographic network of Norway since 1878 and to study its association with the degree of urbanization, and population density. Material and methods: Data on body height of Norwegian military conscripts were provided by the Statistics Norway Department (SSB). The sample comprised eight cohorts with the following measurement years: 1st 1877, 1878 and 1880, 2nd 18951897, 3rd 1915-1917, 4th 1935-1937, 5th 1955-1957, 6th 1975-1977, 7th 1995-1997, and 8th 2009-2011. For determining neighborhood correlations, a network was created consisting of neighboring counties, sharing a common border. Results: Average body height of Norwegian men increased by 10.9 cm between 1878 and 2010, but this trend was heterogeneous. Some counties increased by more than 1 cm per decade (Finmark) others by only 7 mm per decade (Sor-Trondelag). Urban counties and counties with higher population density showed stronger height trends than rural counties. The largest spread in body height between the various counties was observed in 1936 when for the first time people living in the more urban counties got taller than rural people. The height advantage of urban counties however, disappeared after 1996. At this time, also the secular trend in height had come to a halt. The secular trend in height had become obvious after the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905 and World War I, and was strongest between 1936 and 1956. During this period maximum between-county heterogeneity in height existed with body height differences of more than 6 cm between the tallest and the shortest county. The end of this period was characterized by social democratic reforms that flattened the income distribution, eliminated poverty, and ensured social services after World War II. Conclusion: The temporal coincidence between the trends in height, the degree of urbanization and the onset of the political transition of Norway from a Swedish province into an independent democratic wealthy modern European state after World War I and particularly after World War II, and the abatement of this trend after this period of transition had stabilized, suggest social and political components interfering with the regulation of physical growth in humans. KW - male body height KW - degree of urbanization KW - population density KW - Norway Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2020/1254 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 77 IS - 5 SP - 415 EP - 421 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mendel, Ralf R. A1 - Hercher, Thomas W. A1 - Zupok, Arkadiusz A1 - Hasnat, Muhammad Abrar A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - The requirement of inorganic Fe-S clusters for the biosynthesis of the organometallic molybdenum cofactor JF - Inorganics : open access journal N2 - Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are essential protein cofactors. In enzymes, they are present either in the rhombic [2Fe-2S] or the cubic [4Fe-4S] form, where they are involved in catalysis and electron transfer and in the biosynthesis of metal-containing prosthetic groups like the molybdenum cofactor (Moco). Here, we give an overview of the assembly of Fe-S clusters in bacteria and humans and present their connection to the Moco biosynthesis pathway. In all organisms, Fe-S cluster assembly starts with the abstraction of sulfur froml-cysteine and its transfer to a scaffold protein. After formation, Fe-S clusters are transferred to carrier proteins that insert them into recipient apo-proteins. In eukaryotes like humans and plants, Fe-S cluster assembly takes place both in mitochondria and in the cytosol. Both Moco biosynthesis and Fe-S cluster assembly are highly conserved among all kingdoms of life. Moco is a tricyclic pterin compound with molybdenum coordinated through its unique dithiolene group. Moco biosynthesis begins in the mitochondria in a Fe-S cluster dependent step involving radical/S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) chemistry. An intermediate is transferred to the cytosol where the dithiolene group is formed, to which molybdenum is finally added. Further connections between Fe-S cluster assembly and Moco biosynthesis are discussed in detail. KW - Moco biosynthesis KW - Fe-S cluster assembly KW - l-cysteine desulfurase KW - ISC KW - SUF KW - NIF KW - iron KW - molybdenum KW - sulfur Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics8070043 SN - 2304-6740 VL - 8 IS - 7 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schneeberger, Karin A1 - Taborsky, Michael T1 - The role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions BT - costs of acquiring information matter JF - Functional ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society N2 - 1. We generally assume that animals should maximize information acquisition about their environment to make prudent decisions. But this is a naive assumption, as gaining information typically involves costs.
2. This is especially so in the social context, where interests between interacting partners usually diverge. The arms race involved in mutual assessment is characterized by the attempt to obtain revealing information from a partner while providing only as much information by oneself as is conducive to one's own intentions.
3. If obtaining information occasions costs in terms of time, energy and risk, animals should be selected to base their decisions on a cost-benefit ratio that takes account of the trade-off between the risk of making wrong choices and the costs involved in information acquisition, processing and use.
4. In addition, there may be physiological and/or environmental constraints limiting the ability to obtaining, processing and utilizing reliable information.
5. Here, we discuss recent empirical evidence for the proposition that social decisions are to an important extent based on the costs that result from acquiring, processing, evaluating and storing information. Using examples from different taxa and ecological contexts, we aim at drawing attention to the often neglected costs of information recipience, with emphasis on the potential role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions. KW - behaviour KW - constrains KW - costs KW - decisions KW - signals KW - sociality KW - trade-offs Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13488 SN - 0269-8463 SN - 1365-2435 VL - 34 IS - 2 SP - 302 EP - 309 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ehrlich, Elias A1 - Kath, Nadja Jeanette A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - The shape of a defense-growth trade-off governs seasonal trait dynamics in natural phytoplankton JF - The ISME journal N2 - Theory predicts that trade-offs, quantifying costs of functional trait adjustments, crucially affect community trait adaptation to altered environmental conditions, but empirical verification is scarce. We evaluated trait dynamics (antipredator defense, maximum growth rate, and phosphate affinity) of a lake phytoplankton community in a seasonally changing environment, using literature trait data and 21 years of species-resolved high-frequency biomass measurements. The trait data indicated a concave defense-growth trade-off, promoting fast-growing species with intermediate defense. With seasonally increasing grazing pressure, the community shifted toward higher defense levels at the cost of lower growth rates along the trade-off curve, while phosphate affinity explained some deviations from it. We discuss how low fitness differences of species, inferred from model simulations, in concert with stabilizing mechanisms, e.g., arising from further trait dimensions, may lead to the observed phytoplankton diversity. In conclusion, quantifying trade-offs is key for predictions of community trait adaptation and biodiversity under environmental change. KW - coexistence KW - community ecology KW - diversity KW - evolution KW - fitness KW - functional traits KW - lake KW - maintenance KW - mechanisms KW - plankton Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-0619-1 SN - 1751-7362 SN - 1751-7370 VL - 14 IS - 6 SP - 1451 EP - 1462 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schneeberger, Karin A1 - Röder, Gregory A1 - Taborsky, Michael T1 - The smell of hunger BT - Norway rats provision social partners based on odour cues of need JF - PLoS biology N2 - When individuals exchange helpful acts reciprocally, increasing the benefit of the receiver can enhance its propensity to return a favour, as pay-offs are typically correlated in iterated interactions. Therefore, reciprocally cooperating animals should consider the relative benefit for the receiver when deciding to help a conspecific. Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) exchange food reciprocally and thereby take into account both the cost of helping and the potential benefit to the receiver. By using a variant of the sequential iterated prisoner's dilemma paradigm, we show that rats may determine the need of another individual by olfactory cues alone. In an experimental food-exchange task, test subjects were provided with odour cues from hungry or satiated conspecifics located in a different room. Our results show that wild-type Norway rats provide help to a stooge quicker when they receive odour cues from a hungry rather than from a satiated conspecific. Using chemical analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we identify seven volatile organic compounds that differ in their abundance between hungry and satiated rats. Combined, this "smell of hunger" can apparently serve as a reliable cue of need in reciprocal cooperation, which supports the hypothesis of honest signalling. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000628 SN - 1544-9173 SN - 1545-7885 VL - 18 IS - 3 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Angelopoulos, Michael A1 - Overduin, Pier Paul A1 - Westermann, Sebastian A1 - Tronicke, Jens A1 - Strauss, Jens A1 - Schirrmeister, Lutz A1 - Biskaborn, Boris A1 - Liebner, Susanne A1 - Maksimov, Georgii A1 - Grigoriev, Mikhail N. A1 - Grosse, Guido T1 - Thermokarst lake to lagoon transitions in Eastern Siberia BT - do submerged taliks refreeze? JF - Journal of geophysical research : Earth surface N2 - As the Arctic coast erodes, it drains thermokarst lakes, transforming them into lagoons, and, eventually, integrates them into subsea permafrost. Lagoons represent the first stage of a thermokarst lake transition to a marine setting and possibly more saline and colder upper boundary conditions. In this research, borehole data, electrical resistivity surveying, and modeling of heat and salt diffusion were carried out at Polar Fox Lagoon on the Bykovsky Peninsula, Siberia. Polar Fox Lagoon is a seasonally isolated water body connected to Tiksi Bay through a channel, leading to hypersaline waters under the ice cover. The boreholes in the center of the lagoon revealed floating ice and a saline cryotic bed underlain by a saline cryotic talik, a thin ice-bearing permafrost layer, and unfrozen ground. The bathymetry showed that most of the lagoon had bedfast ice in spring. In bedfast ice areas, the electrical resistivity profiles suggested that an unfrozen saline layer was underlain by a thick layer of refrozen talik. The modeling showed that thermokarst lake taliks can refreeze when submerged in saltwater with mean annual bottom water temperatures below or slightly above 0 degrees C. This occurs, because the top-down chemical degradation of newly formed ice-bearing permafrost is slower than the refreezing of the talik. Hence, lagoons may precondition taliks with a layer of ice-bearing permafrost before encroachment by the sea, and this frozen layer may act as a cap on gas migration out of the underlying talik. KW - thermokarst lake KW - talik KW - lagoon KW - subsea permafrost KW - salt diffusion KW - Siberia Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005424 SN - 2169-9003 SN - 2169-9011 VL - 125 IS - 10 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Patterson, Jenelle A. A1 - He, Hai A1 - Folz, Jacob S. A1 - Li, Qiang A1 - Wilson, Mark A. A1 - Fiehn, Oliver A1 - Bruner, Steven D. A1 - Bar-Even, Arren A1 - Hanson, Andrew D. T1 - Thioproline formation as a driver of formaldehyde toxicity in Escherichia coli JF - Biochemical Journal N2 - Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a reactive carbonyl compound that formylates and cross-links proteins, DNA, and small molecules. It is of specific concern as a toxic intermediate in the design of engineered pathways involving methanol oxidation or formate reduction. The interest in engineering these pathways is not, however, matched by engineering-relevant information on precisely why HCHO is toxic or on what damage-control mechanisms cells deploy to manage HCHO toxicity. The only well-defined mechanism for managing HCHO toxicity is formaldehyde dehydrogenase-mediated oxidation to formate, which is counterproductive if HCHO is a desired pathway intermediate. We therefore sought alternative HCHO damage-control mechanisms via comparative genomic analysis. This analysis associated homologs of the Escherichia coli pepP gene with HCHO-related one-carbon metabolism. Furthermore, deleting pepP increased the sensitivity of E. coli to supplied HCHO but not other carbonyl compounds. PepP is a proline aminopeptidase that cleaves peptides of the general formula X-Pro-Y, yielding X + Pro-Y. HCHO is known to react spontaneously with cysteine to form the close proline analog thioproline (thiazolidine-4-carboxylate), which is incorporated into proteins and hence into proteolytic peptides. We therefore hypothesized that certain thioproline-containing peptides are toxic and that PepP cleaves these aberrant peptides. Supporting this hypothesis, PepP cleaved the model peptide Ala-thioproline-Ala as efficiently as Ala-Pro-Ala in vitro and in vivo, and deleting pepP increased sensitivity to supplied thioproline. Our data thus (i) provide biochemical genetic evidence that thioproline formation contributes substantially to HCHO toxicity and (ii) make PepP a candidate damage-control enzyme for engineered pathways having HCHO as an intermediate. KW - formaldehyde KW - thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid KW - thioproline KW - Xaa-Pro aminopeptidase Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20200198 SN - 1470-8728 SN - 0006-2936 VL - 477 IS - 9 SP - 1745 EP - 1757 PB - Portland Press CY - London ER -