TY - JOUR A1 - Chang, Dan A1 - Knapp, Michael A1 - Enk, Jacob A1 - Lippold, Sebastian A1 - Kircher, Martin A1 - Lister, Adrian M. A1 - MacPhee, Ross D. E. A1 - Widga, Christopher A1 - Czechowski, Paul A1 - Sommer, Robert A1 - Hodges, Emily A1 - Stümpel, Nikolaus A1 - Barnes, Ian A1 - Dalén, Love A1 - Derevianko, Anatoly A1 - Germonpré, Mietje A1 - Hillebrand-Voiculescu, Alexandra A1 - Constantin, Silviu A1 - Kuznetsova, Tatyana A1 - Mol, Dick A1 - Rathgeber, Thomas A1 - Rosendahl, Wilfried A1 - Tikhonov, Alexey N. A1 - Willerslev, Eske A1 - Hannon, Greg A1 - Lalueza i Fox, Carles A1 - Joger, Ulrich A1 - Poinar, Hendrik N. A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Shapiro, Beth T1 - The evolutionary and phylogeographic history of woolly mammoths BT - a comprehensive mitogenomic analysis JF - Scientific reports N2 - Near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, populations of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) were distributed across parts of three continents, from western Europe and northern Asia through Beringia to the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Nonetheless, questions about the connectivity and temporal continuity of mammoth populations and species remain unanswered. We use a combination of targeted enrichment and high-throughput sequencing to assemble and interpret a data set of 143 mammoth mitochondrial genomes, sampled from fossils recovered from across their Holarctic range. Our dataset includes 54 previously unpublished mitochondrial genomes and significantly increases the coverage of the Eurasian range of the species. The resulting global phylogeny confirms that the Late Pleistocene mammoth population comprised three distinct mitochondrial lineages that began to diverge ~1.0–2.0 million years ago (Ma). We also find that mammoth mitochondrial lineages were strongly geographically partitioned throughout the Pleistocene. In combination, our genetic results and the pattern of morphological variation in time and space suggest that male-mediated gene flow, rather than large-scale dispersals, was important in the Pleistocene evolutionary history of mammoths. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44585 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 7 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Czernitzki, Anna-Franziska A1 - Pospisil, Christina A1 - Musalek, Martin A1 - Mumm, Rebekka A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Analysis of longitudinal data of height z-scores in kindergarten children BT - a pilot study JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Changes in body height throughout extended historic periods are very complex and dynamic processes. Thispilot study aimed to investigate the pattern of longitudinal height z-scores changes in children before and after entering kindergarten. In summer 2016, we measured height and weight of 32 children from 4 groups of two kindergartens aged 3–6 years. All ages were centered according to the age of entry into the kindergarten. For each child we determined mean z-scores for height before and after entering the kindergarten, and assessed the variances for each kindergarten group. Twenty-two children targeted in height z-scores towards average height of their respective kindergarten group, 10 children did not. Due to the small numbers, the convergence in height variance however, remained insignificant (chi-squared independence test, p = 0.127). Additional studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm this pilot study. KW - Height z-score KW - kindergarten children KW - secular trend KW - strategic growth adjustment KW - social signal Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2017/0708 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 74 IS - 2 SP - 109 EP - 112 PB - Schweizerbart science publishers CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - THES A1 - de Abreu e Lima, Francisco Anastacio T1 - Experimental validation of hybrid performance predictive models in Zea mays L. Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - de Souza, Leonardo Perez T1 - Functional characterization of biosynthesis and regulation of plant secondary metabolism Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Diez Cocero, Mercedes T1 - Analysis of Rubisco – carbonic anhydrase fusions in tobacco as an approach to reduce photorespiration N2 - Rubisco catalyses the first step of CO2 assimilation into plant biomass. Despite its crucial role, it is notorious for its low catalytic rate and its tendency to fix O2 instead of CO2, giving rise to a toxic product that needs to be recycled in a process known as photorespiration. Since almost all our food supply relies on Rubisco, even small improvements in its specificity for CO2 could lead to an improvement of photosynthesis and ultimately, crop yield. In this work, we attempted to improve photosynthesis by decreasing photorespiration with an artificial CCM based on a fusion between Rubisco and a carbonic anhydrase (CA). A preliminary set of plants contained fusions between one of two CAs, bCA1 and CAH3, and the N- or C-terminus of RbcL connected by a small flexible linker of 5 amino acids. Subsequently, further fusion proteins were created between RbcL C-terminus and bCA1/CAH3 with linkers of 14, 23, 32, and 41 amino acids. The transplastomic tobacco plants carrying fusions with bCA1 were able to grow autotrophically even with the shortest linkers, albeit at a low rate, and accumulated very low levels of the fusion protein. On the other hand, plants carrying fusions with CAH3 were autotrophic only with the longer linkers. The longest linker permitted nearly wild-type like growth of the plants carrying fusions with CAH3 and increased the levels of fusion protein, but also of smaller degradation products. The fusion of catalytically inactive CAs to RbcL did not cause a different phenotype from the fusions with catalytically active CAs, suggesting that the selected CAs were not active in the fusion with RbcL or their activity did not have an effect on CO2 assimilation. However, fusions to RbcL did not abolish RbcL catalytic activity, as shown by the autotrophic growth, gas exchange and in vitro activity measurements. Furthermore, Rubisco carboxylation rate and specificity for CO2 was not altered in some of the fusion proteins, suggesting that despite the defect in RbcL folding or assembly caused by the fusions, the addition of 60-150 amino acids to RbcL does not affect its catalytic properties. On the contrary, most growth defects of the plants carrying RbcL-CA fusions are related to their reduced Rubisco content, likely caused by impaired RbcL folding or assembly. Finally, we found that fusions with RbcL C-terminus were better tolerated than with the N-terminus, and increasing the length of the linker relieved the growth impairment imposed by the fusion to RbcL. Together, the results of this work constitute considerable relevant findings for future Rubisco engineering. N2 - Rubisco katalysiert den ersten Schritt der CO2-Assimilierung. Trotz seiner bedeutenden Rolle, zeichnet sich Rubisco durch eine niedrige katalytische Geschwindigkeit aus. Außerdem, entsteht bei der Bindung von O2 anstatt CO2 ein toxisches Zwischenprodukt, welches in einem Prozess, genannt Photorespiration, aufbereitet wird. Da fast die gesamte Nahrungsmittelversorgung auf der Aktivität von Rubisco basiert, könnten schon kleine Verbesserungen in der Spezifität für CO2 zu einem großen Effekt in der Photosysntheserate und letztendlich größeren Ernteerträgen führen. In dieser Arbeit wurde versucht die Effizienz der Photosynthese zu verbessern, indem ein künstlicher CO2 konzentrierender Mechanismus aus einer Fusion von RbcL und einer Carboanhydrase (CA) gebildet wird. Als Vorversuch wurden je bCA1 und CAH3 an Rubiscos C- beziehungsweise N-Terminus mittels eines kleinen, flexiblen Linkers aus 5 Aminosäuren fusioniert. Anschließend wurden weitere Fusionsproteine zwischen dem C-Terminus von RbcL und bCA1/CAH3 mittels Linkern von 14, 23, 32 und 41 Aminosäuren Länge in Chloroplasten von Tabak eingebracht. Die entstandenen transplastomischen Pflanzen mit bCA1-Fusionen waren trotz ihres sehr langsamen Wachstums dazu fähig schon bei kurzen Linkern autotroph zu wachsen und geringe Mengen an Fusionsproteinen zu akkumulieren. Pflanzen mit CAH3 Fusionsproteinen hingegen waren nur mit längeren Linkern autotroph, zeigten aber dafür ähnliche Wachstumsraten zum Wildtyp bei Nutzung des längsten Linkers. Außerdem enthielten diese Pflanzen größere Mengen an Fusionsproteinen aber auch eine erhöhte Anreicherung von kleineren Abbauprodukten. Bei den in dieser Arbeit gewählten CA als Fusionsprotein mit RbcL konnte im Vergleich mit katalytisch inaktiven Varianten kein Effekt auf die CO2-Assimilierung gefunden werden. Wie das autotroph Wachstum sowie die Gaswechsel- und in-vitro-Aktivitätsmessungen zeigen, haben die Fusionen allerdings nicht die katalytische Aktivität von Rubisco blockiert. Ebenso verhielt sich die Carboxylierungsrate von Rubisco und deren Spezifität für CO2 unverändert. Dies weist darauf hin, dass trotz Rubiscos Faltungs- oder Assemblierungsdefekten das Anfügen von 60-150 Aminosäure an den C-Terminus von RbcL nicht die katalytische Leistung des Enzyms beeinträchtigt. Im Gegenteil, die Wachstumsdefekte waren durch die geringe Menge an Rubisco begründet, vermutlich verursacht durch Defekte in der Faltung oder Assemblierung von RbcL. Schlussendlich konnten wichtige Erkenntnisse für zukünftige gentechnische Veränderungen von Rubisco gemacht werden: Fusionen mit dem C-Terminus von RbcL wurden besser toleriert als mit dem N-Terminus und längere Linker verringerten die von der Fusion ausgelösten Wachstumsdefekte. KW - Rubisco KW - fusion Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Diez Cocero, Mercedes T1 - Analysis of Rubisco - carbonic anhydrase fusions in tobacco as an approach to reduce photorespiration Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Dippong, Martin T1 - Direkte und indirekte Hapten-selektive Immunfluoreszenzmarkierung von Hybridomzellen zur Generierung monoklonaler Antikörper T1 - Direct and indirect hapten-specific immunofluorescence labeling of hybridoma cells for the generation of monoclonal antibodies N2 - Die Hybridomtechnik zur Produktion von monoklonalen Antikörpern ermöglichte einen großen Schritt in der Entwicklung von Immunoassays für die biochemische Forschung und klinische Diagnostik. Auch die Produktion von Antikörpern gegen niedermolekulare Analyten, Haptene, typische Targets in der Lebensmittel- und Umweltanalytik, erlangte in den letzten Jahren eine immer größere Bedeutung. Im Zuge der Durchführung der Hybridomtechnik werden tausende Antikörper-sezernierende und nicht-sezernierende Zellen generiert. Die Selektion der wenigen antigenselektiven Hybridomzellen zählt dabei zu den herausforderndsten Schritten für die Antikörpergewinnung. Bisherige Selektionsverfahren, wie die Limiting-Dilution-Klonierung in Verbindung mit Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs), garantieren keine Monoklonalität und erlauben nur das Screening von einigen wenigen Zellklonen. Hingegen ermöglichen Hochdurchsatz-Selektionsmethoden, wie die Fluoreszenz-aktivierte Zellsortierung (FACS), einen sehr hohen Probendurchsatz. Eine Einzelzellablage garantiert hierbei Monoklonalität. Jedoch sind die dafür erforderlichen Zellmarkierungen oftmals zellschädigend oder aufwendig zu generieren. Auch ist bisher noch keine Markierungsmethode bekannt, die es ermöglicht, Hapten-selektive Hybridomzellen durchflusszytometrisch zu analysieren und eine FACS-Selektion durchzuführen. Aus diesem Grund wurden in dieser Arbeit zwei Zellmarkierungsmethoden entwickelt, die dies ermöglichen sollten. Die membranständigen Antikörper von Hybridomzellen sollten entweder direkt oder indirekt immunfluoreszenz-markiert und dadurch für die Durchflusszytometrie und FACS-Selektion zugänglich gemacht werden. Die direkte Markierung wurde mittels eines Hapten-Fluorophor-Konjugats durchgeführt. Sie ermöglichte erstmalig den Anteil an Haptenselektiven Hybridomzellen in einer Hybridomzelllinie zu überprüfen. Dies konnte für zwei Hapten-selektive Hybridomzelllinien, die Antikörper gegen das Hormon 17β-Estradiol und das Cardenolid Digoxigenin bilden, gezeigt werden. Durchflusszytometrie und ELISAs lieferten vergleichbare Ergebnisse. Zellen, die Hapten-selektiv markiert werden konnten, sezernierten ebenfalls Hapten-selektive Antikörper. Des Weiteren konnte die direkte Markierung dazu genutzt werden, zwei Mykotoxin-selektive Hybridomzelllinien, welche Antikörper gegen Aflatoxin und Zearalenon bilden, auf Monoklonalität zu testen. Dies ist mittels ELISA nicht möglich. Die Markierungsmethode eignete sich jedoch nur für fixierte Hybridomzellen. Eine Markierung von lebenden Zellen konnte weder durchflusszytometrisch noch mittels konfokaler Laser-Scanning-Mikroskopie gezeigt werden. Dies gelang erst mit einer neu entwickelten indirekten Immunfluoreszenzmarkierung. Dabei wurden die Zellen zunächst mit einem Hapten-Peroxidase-Konjugat inkubiert, gefolgt von einem Fluorophor-markierten anti-HRP-Antikörper-Konjugat. Dies wurde für zwei Analyten, das Hormon Estron und das Antiepileptikum Carbamazepin, gezeigt. Die indirekte Markierung wurde erfolgreich dazu verwendet, Carbamazepin-selektive Hybridomzellen aus einem Fusionsansatz für die monoklonale Antikörperproduktion auszusortieren. Damit wurde erstmalig eine Zellmarkierungsmethode entwickelt, die eine Hochdurchsatz-Selektion lebender Hybridomzellen aus einem Fusionsansatz ermöglicht. Sie ist nicht zellschädigend und kann zusätzlich zur Selektion Hapten-selektiver Plasmazellen verwendet werden. N2 - The ability to create monoclonal antibodies has allowed great strides to be made in immunoassay development for biochemical research and clinical diagnostics. Particularly for small molecular weight analytes, haptens, the need of selective antibodies has increased. The hybridoma technique generates thousands of fused antibody-secreting and non-secreting cells, with the majority being irrelevant. The subsequent screening and subcloning process in order to identify and isolate the very few hybrids that are secreting antibodies of the desired selectivity is a major concern. The traditional limiting dilution technique followed by enzymelinked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) is inefficient and monoclonality is not guaranteed. Often the number of clones that can be screened is limited. High-throughput techniques such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) provide an efficient tool to increase the number of cells to be screened. Furthermore, a single-cell deposition of cells would ensure monoclonality. However, antigen-selective cell labeling techniques are often cell damaging or laborious. The purpose of this study was to explore a cell labeling technique enabling the hapten-selective analysis and isolation of hybridoma cells via FACS. This would reduce much of the effort that has currently to be employed in hybridoma generation. For this reason, a direct and indirect hapten-selective labeling technique was developed. For the direct labeling, a haptenfluorophore conjugate was generated. The conjugate was used to tag membrane-bound immunoglobulin G of hybridoma cells and thereby enabling flow cytometric analysis. Using this kind of conjugate, it was possible to examine the selective antibody expression of hybridoma cell lines producing antibodies against the hormone estradiol and the steroid digoxigenin. Flow cytometric analysis and ELISAs showed comparable results: Cells, which were tagged with the corresponding hapten-fluorophore conjugate also secreted hapten-selective antibodies. Furthermore, it was possible to check hybridoma cell lines producing antibodies against the mycotoxins aflatoxin and zearalenone for monoclonality, which is not possible with ELISA. However, the direct labeling technique was only applicable to fixed cells. Successful labeling of living cells could neither be detected by flow cytometry nor by confocal laser scanning microscopy. On the contrary, using the newly developed indirect labeling technique, flow cytometric analysis and selection of living cells by FACS was possible. Here, the cells were first incubated with a hapten-peroxidase conjugate followed by a fluorophore-conjugated anti-peroxidase antibody. The technique was established on a hybridoma cell line selective for the hormone estrone. Furthermore, this labeling technique enabled for the first time the sorting of hybridoma cells producing selective antibodies against the medication carbamazepine out of a fusion mixture with high efficiency. The selected clones were used for monoclonal antibody production. The indirect labeling is harmless for cells and could also be applied on haptenselective plasma cells. KW - Durchflusszytometrie KW - Haptene KW - monoklonale Antikörper KW - Hybridom KW - Immunfluoreszenz KW - flow cytometry KW - hapten KW - monoclonal antibodies KW - hybridoma KW - immunofluorescence Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dolotovskaya, Sofya A1 - Bordallo, Juan Torroba A1 - Haus, Tanja A1 - Noll, Angela A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Zinner, Dietmar A1 - Roos, Christian T1 - Comparing mitogenomic timetrees for two African savannah primate genera (Chlorocebus and Papio) JF - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society N2 - Complete mitochondrial (mtDNA) genomes have proved to be useful in reconstructing primate phylogenies with higher resolution and confidence compared to reconstructions based on partial mtDNA sequences. Here, we analyse complete mtDNA genomes of African green monkeys (genus Chlorocebus), a widely distributed primate genus in Africa representing an interesting phylogeographical model for the evolution of savannah species. Previous studies on partial mtDNA sequences revealed nine major clades, suggesting several cases of para- and polyphyly among Chlorocebus species. However, in these studies, phylogenetic relationships among several clades were not resolved, and divergence times were not estimated. We analysed complete mtDNA genomes for ten Chlorocebus samples representing major mtDNA clades to find stronger statistical support in the phylogenetic reconstruction than in the previous studies and to estimate divergence times. Our results confirmed para- and polyphyletic relationships of most Chlorocebus species, while the support for the phylogenetic relationships between the mtDNA clades increased compared to the previous studies. Our results indicate an initial west-east division in the northern part of the Chlorocebus range with subsequent divergence into north-eastern and southern clades. This phylogeographic scenario contrasts with that for another widespread African savannah primate genus, the baboons (Papio), for which a dispersal from southern Africa into East and West Africa was suggested. KW - African green monkeys KW - baboons KW - mitochondrial genomes KW - phylogeny KW - phylogeography Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx001 SN - 0024-4082 SN - 1096-3642 VL - 181 IS - 2 SP - 471 EP - 483 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duncan, Susan A1 - Rosa, Stefanie Nunes T1 - Gaining insight into plant gene transcription using smFISH JF - Transcription N2 - Single molecule RNA fluorescent in situ hybridization (smFISH) enables gene transcription to be assessed at the cellular level. In this point of view article, we describe our recent smFISH research in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and discuss how this technique could further knowledge of plant gene transcription in the future. KW - Arabidopsis KW - lncRNA KW - mRNA Quantification KW - RNA Imaging KW - smFISH Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/21541264.2017.1372043 SN - 2154-1264 SN - 2154-1272 VL - 9 IS - 3 SP - 166 EP - 170 PB - Taylor & Francis Group CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Ester M. A1 - Di Cesare, Andrea A1 - Kettner, Marie Therese A1 - Arias-Andres, Maria A1 - Fontaneto, Diego A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Corno, Gianluca T1 - Microplastics increase impact of treated wastewater on freshwater microbial community JF - Environmental pollution N2 - Plastic pollution is a major global concern with several million microplastic particles entering every day freshwater ecosystems via wastewater discharge. Microplastic particles stimulate biofilm formation (plastisphere) throughout the water column and have the potential to affect microbial community structure if they accumulate in pelagic waters, especially enhancing the proliferation of biohazardous bacteria. To test this scenario, we simulated the inflow of treated wastewater into a temperate lake using a continuous culture system with a gradient of concentration of microplastic particles. We followed the effect of microplastics on the microbial community structure and on the occurrence of integrase 1 (intl), a marker associated with mobile genetic elements known as a proxy for anthropogenic effects on the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes. The abundance of intl increased in the plastisphere with increasing microplastic particle concentration, but not in the water surrounding the microplastic particles. Likewise, the microbial community on microplastic was more similar to the original wastewater community with increasing microplastic concentrations. Our results show that microplastic particles indeed promote persistence of typical indicators of microbial anthropogenic pollution in natural waters, and substantiate that their removal from treated wastewater should be prioritised. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Microplastics KW - Anthropogenic pollution KW - Treated wastewater KW - Freshwater microbial communities KW - Integrase 1 KW - Biofilm Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.070 SN - 0269-7491 SN - 1873-6424 VL - 234 SP - 495 EP - 502 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Edenius, Lars A1 - Choi, Chang-Yong A1 - Heim, Wieland A1 - Jaakkonen, Tuomo A1 - De Jong, Adriaan A1 - Ozaki, Kiyoaki A1 - Roberge, Jean-Michel T1 - The next common and widespread bunting to go? BT - global population decline in the Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica JF - Bird conservation international N2 - Populations of several long-distance migratory songbirds in Eurasia are in peril, drastically illustrated by the recent range-wide population collapse in the Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola. There are signals of a strong decline also in the Rustic Bunting E. rustica, but no range-wide assessment of population trends in this superabundant and widespread bunting species has yet been undertaken. The conservation status of Rustic Bunting is ‘Least Concern’ on the global IUCN Red List, but it has recently been upgraded to ‘Vulnerable’ on the European Red List. To assess the Rustic Bunting’s global conservation status we compiled, for the first time, population data across its breeding and wintering ranges. The analysis reveals a 75–87% decline in overall population size over the last 30 years and a 32–91% decline over the last 10 years. The trend estimates indicate that the long-term (30-year) range-wide population decline in the Rustic Bunting is of similar magnitude to two well-known examples of declining species within the same genus, the Yellow-breasted Bunting and the Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana. The magnitude of the range-wide population decline over the last 10 years suggests that the Rustic Bunting could be upgraded from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ or ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN global Red List. Agricultural intensification in the wintering range and intensified levels of disturbance, including logging and fire, in the breeding range could be important drivers of the range-wide population decline, and persecution could also contribute. Untangling threat factors and their interactions on Rustic Bunting is necessary for conservation, but hampered by our currently limited understanding of the relationships between population dynamics and different threats. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270916000046 SN - 0959-2709 SN - 1474-0001 VL - 27 IS - 1 SP - 35 EP - 44 PB - Cambridge Univ. Press CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ehmann, Lisa A1 - Zoller, Michael A1 - Minichmayr, Iris K. A1 - Scharf, Christina A1 - Maier, Barbara A1 - Schmitt, Maximilian V. A1 - Hartung, Niklas A1 - Huisinga, Wilhelm A1 - Vogeser, Michael A1 - Frey, Lorenz A1 - Zander, Johannes A1 - Kloft, Charlotte T1 - Role of renal function in risk assessment of target non-attainment after standard dosing of meropenem in critically ill patients BT - a prospective observational study JF - Critical care N2 - Background: Severe bacterial infections remain a major challenge in intensive care units because of their high prevalence and mortality. Adequate antibiotic exposure has been associated with clinical success in critically ill patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the target attainment of standard meropenem dosing in a heterogeneous critically ill population, to quantify the impact of the full renal function spectrum on meropenem exposure and target attainment, and ultimately to translate the findings into a tool for practical application. Methods: A prospective observational single-centre study was performed with critically ill patients with severe infections receiving standard dosing of meropenem. Serial blood samples were drawn over 4 study days to determine meropenem serum concentrations. Renal function was assessed by creatinine clearance according to the Cockcroft and Gault equation (CLCRCG). Variability in meropenem serum concentrations was quantified at the middle and end of each monitored dosing interval. The attainment of two pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic targets (100% T->MIC, 50% T->4xMIC) was evaluated for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 2 mg/L and 8 mg/L and standard meropenem dosing (1000 mg, 30-minute infusion, every 8 h). Furthermore, we assessed the impact of CLCRCG on meropenem concentrations and target attainment and developed a tool for risk assessment of target non-attainment. Results: Large inter-and intra-patient variability in meropenem concentrations was observed in the critically ill population (n = 48). Attainment of the target 100% T->MIC was merely 48.4% and 20.6%, given MIC values of 2 mg/L and 8 mg/L, respectively, and similar for the target 50% T->4xMIC. A hyperbolic relationship between CLCRCG (25-255 ml/minute) and meropenem serum concentrations at the end of the dosing interval (C-8h) was derived. For infections with pathogens of MIC 2 mg/L, mild renal impairment up to augmented renal function was identified as a risk factor for target non-attainment (for MIC 8 mg/L, additionally, moderate renal impairment). Conclusions: The investigated standard meropenem dosing regimen appeared to result in insufficient meropenem exposure in a considerable fraction of critically ill patients. An easy-and free-to-use tool (the MeroRisk Calculator) for assessing the risk of target non-attainment for a given renal function and MIC value was developed. KW - beta-Lactam KW - Intensive care KW - Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics KW - Target attainment KW - Renal function KW - Risk assessment tool KW - Continuous renal replacement therapy Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-017-1829-4 SN - 1466-609X SN - 1364-8535 VL - 21 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Endesfelder, Stefanie A1 - Weichelt, Ulrike A1 - Strauß, Evelyn A1 - Schlör, Anja A1 - Sifringer, Marco A1 - Scheuer, Till A1 - Bührer, Christoph A1 - Schmitz, Thomas T1 - Neuroprotection by caffeine in hyperoxia-induced neonatal brain injury JF - International journal of molecular sciences N2 - Sequelae of prematurity triggered by oxidative stress and free radical-mediated tissue damage have coined the term “oxygen radical disease of prematurity”. Caffeine, a potent free radical scavenger and adenosine receptor antagonist, reduces rates of brain damage in preterm infants. In the present study, we investigated the effects of caffeine on oxidative stress markers, anti-oxidative response, inflammation, redox-sensitive transcription factors, apoptosis, and extracellular matrix following the induction of hyperoxia in neonatal rats. The brain of a rat pups at postnatal Day 6 (P6) corresponds to that of a human fetal brain at 28–32 weeks gestation and the neonatal rat is an ideal model in which to investigate effects of oxidative stress and neuroprotection of caffeine on the developing brain. Six-day-old Wistar rats were pre-treated with caffeine and exposed to 80% oxygen for 24 and 48 h. Caffeine reduced oxidative stress marker (heme oxygenase-1, lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide, and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC)), promoted anti-oxidative response (superoxide dismutase, peroxiredoxin 1, and sulfiredoxin 1), down-regulated pro-inflammatory cytokines, modulated redox-sensitive transcription factor expression (Nrf2/Keap1, and NFκB), reduced pro-apoptotic effectors (poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1), apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), and caspase-3), and diminished extracellular matrix degeneration (matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 2, and inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) 1/2). Our study affirms that caffeine is a pleiotropic neuroprotective drug in the developing brain due to its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties. KW - anti-oxidative response KW - caffeine KW - hyperoxia KW - oxidative stress KW - preterm infants KW - developing brain Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18010187 SN - 1422-0067 SN - 1661-6596 VL - 18 PB - Molecular Diversity Preservation International CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Estendorfer, Jennifer A1 - Stempfhuber, Barbara A1 - Haury, Paula A1 - Vestergaard, Gisle A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - Schröder, Peter A1 - Schloter, Michael T1 - The Influence of Land Use Intensity on the Plant-Associated Microbiome of Dactylis glomerata L. JF - Frontiers in plant science N2 - In this study, we investigated the impact of different land use intensities (LUI) on the root-associated microbiome of Dactylis glomerata (orchardgrass). For this purpose, eight sampling sites with different land use intensity levels but comparable soil properties were selected in the southwest of Germany. Experimental plots covered land use levels from natural grassland up to intensively managed meadows. We used 16S rRNA gene based barcoding to assess the plant-associated community structure in the endosphere, rhizosphere and bulk soil of D. glomerata. Samples were taken at the reproductive stage of the plant in early summer. Our data indicated that roots harbor a distinct bacterial community, which clearly differed from the microbiome of the rhizosphere and bulk soil. Our results revealed Pseudomonadaceae, Enterobacteriaceae and Comamonadaceae as the most abundant endophytes independently of land use intensity. Rhizosphere and bulk soil were dominated also by Proteobacteria, but the most abundant families differed from those obtained from root samples. In the soil, the effect of land use intensity was more pronounced compared to root endophytes leading to a clearly distinct pattern of bacterial communities under different LUI from rhizosphere and bulk soil vs. endophytes. Overall, a change of community structure on the plant-soil interface was observed, as the number of shared OTUs between all three compartments investigated increased with decreasing land use intensity. Thus, our findings suggest a stronger interaction of the plant with its surrounding soil under low land use intensity. Furthermore, the amount and quality of available nitrogen was identified as a major driver for shifts in the microbiome structure in all compartments. KW - Dactylis glomerata KW - land use change KW - endophytes KW - rhizosphere KW - soil microbiome KW - biodiversity Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00930 SN - 1664-462X VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Falk, Thomas A1 - Kirk, Michael A1 - Lohmann, Dirk A1 - Kruger, Bertus A1 - Hüttich, Christian A1 - Kamukuenjandje, Richard T1 - The profits of excludability and transferability in redistributive land reform in central Namibia JF - Development Southern Africa N2 - Policies which redistribute property rights to land can improve the well-being of rural households and can have overall growth effects. In many cases, however, land reforms are driven mainly by politically justified objectives. Under such circumstances, little emphasis is placed on whether and, if so, how property rights can increase productivity. Following 18 years of land reform implementation in Namibia, we evaluated 65 beneficiaries in Namibia. We assess to which degree land rights affects their farm income. The study focuses on Namibia’s two main commercial land reform instruments, namely the Farm Unit Resettlement Scheme and the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. We find evidence that the majority of land reform projects are not profitable. Further, our study confirms the importance of the right to restrict land access compared with the right to transfer. The long-term leasehold contract seemingly provides sufficient incentives to make productive use of the land. KW - Redistributive land reform KW - property rights KW - farm productivity KW - pastoralism KW - Namibia Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2016.1269633 SN - 0376-835X SN - 1470-3637 VL - 34 SP - 314 EP - 329 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fayyaz, Susann A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Schumacher, Fabian A1 - Wigger, Dominik A1 - Schulz, Tim Julius A1 - Haubold, Kathrin A1 - Gulbins, Erich A1 - Völler, Heinz A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard T1 - Lysophosphatidic acid inhibits insulin signaling in primary rat hepatocytes via the LPA(3) receptor subtype and is increased in obesity JF - Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology N2 - Background/Aims: Obesity is a main risk factor for the development of hepatic insulin resistance and it is accompanied by adipocyte hypertrophy and an elevated expression of different adipokines such as autotaxin (ATX). ATX converts lysophosphatidylcholine to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and acts as the main producer of extracellular LPA. This bioactive lipid regulates a broad range of physiological and pathological responses by activation of LPA receptors (LPA1-6). Methods: The activation of phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) signaling (Akt and GSK-3ß) was analyzed via western blotting in primary rat hepatocytes. Incorporation of glucose into glycogen was measured by using radio labeled glucose. Real-time PCR analysis and pharmacological modulation of LPA receptors were performed. Human plasma LPA levels of obese (BMI > 30, n = 18) and normal weight individuals (BMI 18.5-25, n = 14) were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results: Pretreatment of primary hepatocytes with LPA resulted in an inhibition of insulin-mediated Gck expression, PI3K activation and glycogen synthesis. Pharmacological approaches revealed that the LPA3-receptor subtype is responsible for the inhibitory effect of LPA on insulin signaling. Moreover, human plasma LPA concentrations (16: 0 LPA) of obese participants (BMI > 30) are significantly elevated in comparison to normal weight individuals (BMI 18.5-25). Conclusion: LPA is able to interrupt insulin signaling in primary rat hepatocytes via the LPA3 receptor subtype. Moreover, the bioactive lipid LPA (16: 0) is increased in obesity. KW - Lysophosphatidic acid KW - Insulin signaling KW - Adipose tissue KW - Autotaxin KW - Hepatic insulin resistance KW - LPA(3) receptor subtype Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1159/000480470 SN - 1015-8987 SN - 1421-9778 VL - 43 SP - 445 EP - 456 PB - Karger CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fer, Istem A1 - Tietjen, Britta A1 - Jeltsch, Florian A1 - Wolff, Christian Michael T1 - The influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation regimes on eastern African vegetation and its future implications under the RCP8.5 warming scenario JF - Biogeosciences N2 - The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of the interannual variability in eastern African rainfall, with a significant impact on vegetation and agriculture and dire consequences for food and social security. In this study, we identify and quantify the ENSO contribution to the eastern African rainfall variability to forecast future eastern African vegetation response to rainfall variability related to a predicted intensified ENSO. To differentiate the vegetation variability due to ENSO, we removed the ENSO signal from the climate data using empirical orthogonal teleconnection (EOT) analysis. Then, we simulated the ecosystem carbon and water fluxes under the historical climate without components related to ENSO teleconnections. We found ENSO-driven patterns in vegetation response and confirmed that EOT analysis can successfully produce coupled tropical Pacific sea surface temperature-eastern African rainfall teleconnection from observed datasets. We further simulated eastern African vegetation response under future climate change as it is projected by climate models and under future climate change combined with a predicted increased ENSO intensity. Our EOT analysis highlights that climate simulations are still not good at capturing rainfall variability due to ENSO, and as we show here the future vegetation would be different from what is simulated under these climate model outputs lacking accurate ENSO contribution. We simulated considerable differences in eastern African vegetation growth under the influence of an intensified ENSO regime which will bring further environmental stress to a region with a reduced capacity to adapt effects of global climate change and food security. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4355-2017 SN - 1726-4170 SN - 1726-4189 VL - 14 IS - 18 SP - 4355 EP - 4374 PB - Copernicus CY - Katlenburg-Lindau ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferrera, Isabel A1 - Sarmento, Hugo A1 - Priscu, John C. A1 - Chiuchiolo, Amy A1 - Gonzalez, Jose M. A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - Diversity and Distribution of Freshwater Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria across a Wide Latitudinal Gradient JF - Frontiers in microbiology N2 - Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs) have been shown to exist in numerous marine and brackish environments where they are hypothesized to play important ecological roles. Despite their potential significance, the study of freshwater AAPs is in its infancy and limited to local investigations. Here, we explore the occurrence, diversity and distribution of AAPs in lakes covering a wide latitudinal gradient: Mongolian and German lakes located in temperate regions of Eurasia, tropical Great East African lakes, and polar permanently ice-covered Antarctic lakes. Our results show a widespread distribution of AAPs in lakes with contrasting environmental conditions and confirm that this group is composed of different members of the Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria. While latitude does not seem to strongly influence AAP abundance, clear patterns of community structure and composition along geographic regions were observed as indicated by a strong macro-geographical signal in the taxonomical composition of AAPs. Overall, our results suggest that the distribution patterns of freshwater AAPs are likely driven by a combination of small-scale environmental conditions (specific of each lake and region) and large-scale geographic factors (climatic regions across a latitudinal gradient). KW - AAP bacteria KW - photoheterotrophy KW - pufM gene KW - freshwater lakes KW - latitudinal gradients KW - biogeography Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00175 SN - 1664-302X VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischbach, Jens A1 - Loh, Qiuting A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian A1 - Lim, Theam Soon A1 - Frohme, Marcus A1 - Glökler, Jörn T1 - Alizarin Red S for Online Pyrophosphate Detection Identified by a Rapid Screening Method JF - Scientific reports N2 - We identified Alizarin Red S and other well known fluorescent dyes useful for the online detection of pyrophosphate in enzymatic assays, including the loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. An iterative screening was used for a selected set of compounds to first secure enzyme compatibility, evaluate inorganic pyrophosphate sensitivity in the presence of manganese as quencher and optimize conditions for an online detection. Of the selected dyes, the inexpensive alizarin red S was found to selectively detect pyrophosphate under LAMP and PCR conditions and is superior with respect to its defined red-shifted spectrum, long shelf life and low toxicity. In addition, the newly identified properties may also be useful in other enzymatic assays which do not generate nucleic acids but are based on inorganic pyrophosphate. Finally, we propose that our screening method may provide a blueprint for rapid screening of compounds for detecting inorganic pyrophosphate. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45085 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 7 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Folkesson, Maggie A1 - Vorkapic, Emina A1 - Gulbins, Erich A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard A1 - Welander, Martin A1 - Länne, Toste A1 - Wågsäter, Dick T1 - Inflammatory cells, ceramides, and expression of proteases in perivascular adipose tissue adjacent to human abdominal aortic aneurysms JF - Journal of vascular surgery N2 - Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a deadly irreversible weakening and distension of the abdominal aortic wall. The pathogenesis of AAA remains poorly understood. Investigation into the physical and molecular characteristics of perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) adjacent to AAA has not been done before and is the purpose of this study. Methods and Results: Human aortae, periaortic PVAT, and fat surrounding peripheral arteries were collected from patients undergoing elective surgical repair of AAA. Control aortas were obtained from recently deceased healthy organ donors with no known arterial disease. Aorta and PVAT was found in AAA to larger extent compared with control aortas. Immunohistochemistry revealed neutrophils, macrophages, mast cells, and T-cells surrounding necrotic adipocytes. Gene expression analysis showed that neutrophils, mast cells, and T-cells were found to be increased in PVAT compared with AAA as well as cathepsin K and S. The concentration of ceramides in PVAT was determined using mass spectrometry and correlated with content of T-cells in the PVAT. Conclusions: Our results suggest a role for abnormal necrotic, inflamed, proteolytic adipose tissue to the adjacent aneurysmal aortic wall in ongoing vascular damage. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2015.12.056 SN - 0741-5214 VL - 65 IS - 4 SP - 1171 EP - 1179 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Friemel, Martin A1 - Marelja, Zvonimir A1 - Li, Kuanyu A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - The N-Terminus of Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly Factor ISD11 Is Crucial for Subcellular Targeting and Interaction with L-Cysteine Desulfurase NFS1 JF - Biochemistry N2 - Assembly of iron sulfur (FeS) clusters is an important process in living cells. The initial sulfur mobilization step for FeS cluster biosynthesis is catalyzed by L-cysteine desulfurase NFS1, a reaction that is localized in mitochondria in humans. In humans, the function of NFS1 depends on the ISD11 protein, which is required to stabilize its structure. The NFS1/ISD11 complex further interacts with scaffold protein ISCU and regulator protein frataxin, thereby forming a quaternary complex for FeS cluster formation. It has been suggested that the role of ISD11 is not restricted to its role in stabilizing the structure of NFS1, because studies of single-amino acid variants of ISD11 additionally demonstrated its importance for the correct assembly of the quaternary complex. In this study, we are focusing on the N-terminal region of ISD11 to determine the role of N-terminal amino acids in the formation of the complex with NFS1 and to reveal the mitochondria) targeting sequence for subcellular localization. Our in vitro studies with the purified proteins and in vivo studies in a cellular system show that the first 10 N-terminal amino acids of ISD11 are indispensable for the activity of NFS1 and especially the conserved "LYR" motif is essential for the role of ISD11 in forming a stable and active complex with NFS1. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.6b01239 SN - 0006-2960 VL - 56 SP - 1797 EP - 1808 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fruscalzo, Arrigo A1 - Frommer, Julia-Marie A1 - Londero, Ambrogio P. A1 - Henze, Andrea A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. A1 - Nofer, Jerzy-Roch A1 - Steinhard, Johannes A1 - Klockenbusch, Walter A1 - Schmitz, Ralf A1 - Raila, Jens T1 - First trimester TTR-RBP4-ROH complex and angiogenic factors in the prediction of small for gestational age infant’s outcome JF - Archives of gynecology and obstetrics N2 - To study the role of the TTR-RBP4-ROH complex components (transthyretin, serum retinol binding protein, retinol) and of angiogenic factors PlGF (placental growth factor) and sFlt-1 (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1) in pregnancies complicated by small for gestational age infants (SGA). Case control study conducted on maternal serum collected between 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks of gestation. TTR, RBP4, ROH, PlGF and sFlt-1 were measured in SGA patients (birth weight < 10%) who delivered at term (n = 37) and before 37 weeks of gestation (n = 17) and in a matched control group with uneventful pregnancies (n = 37). We found decreased RBP4 in SGA patients that delivered fetuses < 3% and in fetuses delivered after the 37 weeks of gestation compared to controls [1.50 (95% CI 1.40-1.75) vs 1.62 (95% CI 1.47-1.98), p < 0.05]. Further, we found lower PlGF and sFlt-1 concentrations in SGA that delivered before 37 weeks of gestation compared to controls (respectively, PIGF and sFlt-1: 39.7 pg/ml (95% CI 32.3-66.3) vs 62.9 pg/ml (95% CI 45.2-78.4) and 906 pg/ml (95% CI 727-1626) vs 1610 pg/ml (95% CI 1088-212), p < 0.05). First trimester maternal serum RBP4 and angiogenic factors PlGF and sFlt-1 can differently predict the timing of delivery of pregnancies complicated by SGA fetuses. KW - Low birth weight KW - Small for gestational age KW - Pregnancy KW - First trimester KW - Marker KW - RBP4 KW - TTR KW - Retinol KW - Vitamin A KW - sFlt-1 KW - PlGF Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4338-4 SN - 0932-0067 SN - 1432-0711 VL - 295 SP - 1157 EP - 1165 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gall, Andrea A1 - Uebel, Udo A1 - Ebensen, Uwe A1 - Hillebrand, Helmut A1 - Meier, Sandra A1 - Singer, Gabriel A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Striebel, Maren T1 - Planktotrons BT - a novel indoor mesocosm facility for aquatic biodiversity and food web research JF - Limnology and oceanography-methods N2 - We established a new indoor mesocosm facility, 12 fully controlled Planktotrons, designed to conduct marine and freshwater experiments for biodiversity and food web approaches using natural or artificial, benthic or planktonic communities. The Planktotrons are a unique and custom-tailored facility allowing long-term experiments. Wall growth can be inhibited by a rotating gate paddle with silicone lips. Additionally, temperature and light intensity are individually controllable for each Planktotron and the large volume (600 L) enables high-frequency or volume-intense measurements. In a pilot freshwater experiment various trophic levels of a pelagic food web were maintained for up to 90 d. First, an artificially assembled phytoplankton community of 11 species was inoculated in all Planktotrons. After 22 d, two ciliates were added to all, and three Daphnia species were added to six Planktotrons. After 72 d, dissolved organic matter (DOM, an alkaline soil extract) was added as an external disturbance to six of the 12 Planktotrons, involving three Planktotrons stocked with Daphnia and three without, respectively. We demonstrate the suitability of the Planktotrons for food web and biodiversity research. Variation among replicated Planktotrons (n=3 minimum) did not differ from other laboratory systems and field experiments. We investigated population dynamics and interactions among the different trophic levels, and found them affected by the sequence of ciliate and Daphnia addition and the disturbance caused by addition of DOM. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10196 SN - 1541-5856 VL - 15 SP - 663 EP - 677 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gietler, Marta A1 - Nykiel, Malgorzata A1 - Orzechowski, Slawomir A1 - Fettke, Jörg A1 - Zagdanska, Barbara T1 - Protein carbonylation linked to wheat seedling tolerance to water deficiency JF - Environmental and experimental botany N2 - The appearance of the first leaf from the coleoptile in wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum L.) coincides with the development of seedling susceptibility to water deficiency on the fifth day following imbibition. In dehydrated wheat seedlings, an increase in the protein carbonyl group has been observed. The coincidence of higher protein carbonylation levels with development of dehydration intolerance drew our attention. To gain more insight into the molecular basis of wheat drought tolerance, the seedling profiles of carbonylated proteins were analysed and compared. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF and LC-MS/MS) were used to indicate and identify differential carbonylated proteins. Among the protein spots with at least a two-fold change in protein abundance in dehydrated seedlings in relation to control (well-watered) plants during the tolerant phase of growth, 19 carbonylated proteins increased and 18 carbonylated proteins decreased in abundance. Among 26 differentially expressed carbonylated proteins in sensitive seedlings, the abundance of 10 protein spots increased while that of 16 proteins decreased upon dehydration. We have demonstrated a link between protein carbonylation and seedling sensitivity to dehydration. The analysis of carbonylated protein profiles clearly showed that proteins with a potential role in the maintenance of dehydration tolerance in wheat seedlings are mainly linked to energy production, anti-fungal and/or insecticidal activity, or to the regulation of both protein synthesis and degradation. KW - Protein carbonylation KW - Dehydration tolerance KW - Triticum aestivum L. KW - Seedlings KW - Proteomic Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2017.02.004 SN - 0098-8472 SN - 1873-7307 VL - 137 SP - 84 EP - 95 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gisder, Sebastian A1 - Schüler, Vivian A1 - Horchler, Lennart L. A1 - Groth, Detlef A1 - Genersch, Elke T1 - Long-Term Temporal Trends of Nosema spp. Infection Prevalence in Northeast Germany BT - Continuous Spread of Nosema ceranae, an Emerging Pathogen of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), but No General Replacement of Nosema apis JF - Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology N2 - The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is widely used as commercial pollinator in worldwide agriculture and, therefore, plays an important role in global food security. Among the parasites and pathogens threatening health and survival of honey bees are two species of microsporidia, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Nosema ceranae is considered an emerging pathogen of the Western honey bee. Reports on the spread of N. ceranae suggested that this presumably highly virulent species is replacing its more benign congener N. apis in the global A. mellifera population. We here present a 12 year longitudinal cohort study on the prevalence of N. apis and N. ceranae in Northeast Germany. Between 2005 and 2016, a cohort of about 230 honey bee colonies originating from 23 apiaries was sampled twice a year (spring and autumn) resulting in a total of 5,600 bee samples which were subjected to microscopic and molecular analysis for determining the presence of infections with N. apis or/and N. ceranae. Throughout the entire study period, both N. apis- and N. ceranae-infections could be diagnosed within the cohort. Logistic regression analysis of the prevalence data demonstrated a significant increase of N. ceranae-infections over the last 12 years, both in autumn (reflecting the development during the summer) and in spring (reflecting the development over winter) samples. Cell culture experiments confirmed that N. ceranae has a higher proliferative potential than N. apis at 27. and 33 degrees C potentially explaining the increase in N. ceranae prevalence during summer. In autumn, characterized by generally low infection prevalence, this increase was accompanied by a significant decrease in N. apis- infection prevalence. In contrast, in spring, the season with a higher prevalence of infection, no significant decrease of N. apis infections despite a significant increase in N. ceranae infections could be observed. Therefore, our data do not support a general advantage of N. ceranae over N. apis and an overall replacement of N. apis by N. ceranae in the studied honey bee population. KW - honey bee KW - Apis mellifera KW - Nosema spp. KW - epidemiology KW - replacement Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00301 SN - 2235-2988 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gomula, Aleksandra A1 - Koziel, Slawomir A1 - Groth, Detlef A1 - Bielicki, Tadeusz T1 - The effect of neighboring districts on body height of Polish conscripts JF - Anthropologischer Anzeiger : journal of biological and clinical anthropology ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation of heights of conscripts living in neighboring districts in Poland. The study used 10% of a nationally representative sample of 26,178 males 18.5-19.5 years old examined during the National survey of Polish conscripts conducted in 2001. The sample represented all regions and social strata of the country and included 354 different districts within 16 voivodships (provinces). Analyses were performed with the R statistical software. A small but significant correlation (0.24, p < 0.0001) was observed for height between 1st order neighboring districts. Correlations decreased with increased distances between neighboring districts, but remained significant for 7th node neighbors (0.18, p < 0.0001). Regarding voivodships (provinces), average height showed a geographical trend from the northwest (relatively tall) to the southeast (relatively short), and the correlation was stronger for first order neighboring provinces (0.796, p < 0.001). This study revealed clusters of tall people and short people, providing a support for hypothesis of the community effect in height. Small correlations between 1st order neighbors than in another country (Switzerland) may be associated with differences in geography, since in Poland there are no natural barriers (e.g., mountains) and road infrastructure is well-developed. KW - body height KW - community effect KW - Polish conscripts Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2017/0701 SN - 0003-5548 SN - 2363-7099 VL - 74 IS - 1 SP - 71 EP - 76 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gonzalez-Fortes, Gloria M. A1 - Tassi, Francesca A1 - Ghirotto, Silvia A1 - Henneberger, Kirstin A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Barbujani, Guido T1 - The Neolithic transition at the Western edge of Europe T2 - American journal of physical anthropology Y1 - 2017 SN - 0002-9483 SN - 1096-8644 VL - 162 SP - 198 EP - 198 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Groth, Detlef T1 - Modeling a secular trend by Monte Carlo simulation of height biased migration in a spatial network JF - Anthropologischer Anzeiger : journal of biological and clinical anthropology ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Background: In a recent Monte Carlo simulation, the clustering of body height of Swiss military conscripts within a spatial network with characteristic features of the natural Swiss geography was investigated. In this study I examined the effect of migration of tall individuals into network hubs on the dynamics of body height within the whole spatial network. The aim of this study was to simulate height trends. Material and methods: Three networks were used for modeling, a regular rectangular fishing net like network, a real world example based on the geographic map of Switzerland, and a random network. All networks contained between 144 and 148 districts and between 265-307 road connections. Around 100,000 agents were initially released with average height of 170 cm, and height standard deviation of 6.5 cm. The simulation was started with the a priori assumption that height variation within a district is limited and also depends on height of neighboring districts (community effect on height). In addition to a neighborhood influence factor, which simulates a community effect, body height dependent migration of conscripts between adjacent districts in each Monte Carlo simulation was used to re-calculate next generation body heights. In order to determine the direction of migration for taller individuals, various centrality measures for the evaluation of district importance within the spatial network were applied. Taller individuals were favored to migrate more into network hubs, backward migration using the same number of individuals was random, not biased towards body height. Network hubs were defined by the importance of a district within the spatial network. The importance of a district was evaluated by various centrality measures. In the null model there were no road connections, height information could not be delivered between the districts. Results: Due to the favored migration of tall individuals into network hubs, average body height of the hubs, and later, of the whole network increased by up to 0.1 cm per iteration depending on the network model. The general increase in height within the network depended on connectedness and on the amount of height information that was exchanged between neighboring districts. If higher amounts of neighborhood height information were exchanged, the general increase in height within the network was large (strong secular trend). The trend in the homogeneous fishnet like network was lowest, the trend in the random network was highest. Yet, some network properties, such as the heteroscedasticity and autocorrelations of the migration simulation models differed greatly from the natural features observed in Swiss military conscript networks. Autocorrelations of district heights for instance, were much higher in the migration models. Conclusion: This study confirmed that secular height trends can be modeled by preferred migration of tall individuals into network hubs. However, basic network properties of the migration simulation models differed greatly from the natural features observed in Swiss military conscripts. Similar network-based data from other countries should be explored to better investigate height trends with Monte Carlo migration approach. KW - secular trend KW - body height KW - simulation KW - community effect KW - Monte Carlo method KW - network Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2017/0703 SN - 0003-5548 SN - 2363-7099 VL - 74 IS - 1 SP - 81 EP - 88 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Guerrero-Ramirez, Nathaly Rokssana A1 - Craven, Dylan A1 - Reich, Peter B. A1 - Ewel, John J. A1 - Isbell, Forest A1 - Koricheva, Julia A1 - Parrotta, John A. A1 - Auge, Harald A1 - Erickson, Heather E. A1 - Forrester, David I. A1 - Hector, Andy A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - Montagnini, Florencia A1 - Palmborg, Cecilia A1 - Piotto, Daniel A1 - Potvin, Catherine A1 - Roscher, Christiane A1 - van Ruijven, Jasper A1 - Tilman, David A1 - Wilsey, Brian A1 - Eisenhauer, Nico T1 - Diversity-dependent temporal divergence of ecosystem functioning in experimental ecosystems JF - Nature ecology & evolution N2 - The effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning generally increase over time, but the underlying processes remain unclear. Using 26 long-term grassland and forest experimental ecosystems, we demonstrate that biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships strengthen mainly by greater increases in functioning in high-diversity communities in grasslands and forests. In grasslands, biodiversity effects also strengthen due to decreases in functioning in low-diversity communities. Contrasting trends across grasslands are associated with differences in soil characteristics. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0325-1 SN - 2397-334X VL - 1 IS - 11 SP - 1639 EP - 1642 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Górka, Michal Jakub T1 - Establishing a pipeline for identification of protein- protein interactions using different native fractionation methods Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haase, Tobias A1 - Krost, Annalena A1 - Sauter, Tilman A1 - Kratz, Karl A1 - Peter, Jan A1 - Kamann, Stefanie A1 - Jung, Friedrich A1 - Lendlein, Andreas A1 - Zohlnhöfer, Dietlind A1 - Rüder, Constantin T1 - In vivo biocompatibility assessment of poly (ether imide) electrospun scaffolds JF - Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine N2 - Poly(ether imide) (PEI), which can be chemically functionalized with biologically active ligands, has emerged as a potential biomaterial for medical implants. Electrospun PEI scaffolds have shown advantageous properties, such as enhanced endothelial cell adherence, proliferation and low platelet adhesion in in vitro experiments. In this study, the in vivo behaviour of electrospun PEI scaffolds and PEI films was examined in a murine subcutaneous implantation model. Electrospun PEI scaffolds and films were surgically implanted subcutaneously in the dorsae of mice. The surrounding subcutaneous tissue response was examined via histopathological examination at 7 and 28days after implantation. No serious adverse events were observed for both types of PEI implants. The presence of macrophages or foreign body giant cells in the vicinity of the implants and the formation of a fibrous capsule indicated a normal foreign body reaction towards PEI films and scaffolds. Capsule thickness and inflammatory infiltration cells significantly decreased for PEI scaffolds during days 7-28 while remaining unchanged for PEI films. The infiltration of cells into the implant was observed for PEI scaffolds 7days after implantation and remained stable until 28days of implantation. Additionally some, but not all, PEI scaffold implants induced the formation of functional blood vessels in the vicinity of the implants. Conclusively, this study demonstrates the in vivo biocompatibility of PEI implants, with favourable properties of electrospun PEI scaffolds regarding tissue integration and wound healing. KW - poly(ether imide) KW - in vivo study KW - electrospun scaffold KW - capsule formation KW - foreign body giant cells KW - vascularization Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/term.2002 SN - 1932-6254 SN - 1932-7005 VL - 11 IS - 4 SP - 1034 EP - 1044 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hahn, Marc Benjamin A1 - Meyer, Susann A1 - Schröter, Maria-Astrid A1 - Seitz, Harald A1 - Kunte, Hans-Jörg A1 - Solomun, Tihomir A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Direct electron irradiation of DNA in a fully aqueous environment BT - Damage determination in combination with Monte Carlo simulations JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies N2 - We report on a study in which plasmid DNA in water was irradiated with 30 keV electrons generated by a scanning electron microscope and passed through a 100 nm thick Si3N4 membrane. The corresponding Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the kinetic energy spectrum of the electrons throughout the water is dominated by low energy electrons (<100 eV). The DNA radiation damage, single-strand breaks (SSBs) and double-strand breaks (DSBs), was determined by gel electrophoresis. The median lethal dose of D-1/2 = 1.7 +/- 0.3 Gy was found to be much smaller as compared to partially or fully hydrated DNA irradiated under vacuum conditions. The ratio of the DSBs to SSBs was found to be 1 : 12 as compared to 1 : 88 found for hydrated DNA. Our method enables quantitative measurements of radiation damage to biomolecules (DNA, proteins) in solutions under varying conditions (pH, salinity, co-solutes) for an electron energy range which is difficult to probe by standard methods. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp07707b SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 19 IS - 3 SP - 1798 EP - 1805 PB - RSC Publ. CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hansen, Bjoern Oest A1 - Meyer, Etienne H. A1 - Ferrari, Camilla A1 - Vaid, Neha A1 - Movahedi, Sara A1 - Vandepoele, Klaas A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran A1 - Mutwil, Marek T1 - Ensemble gene function prediction database reveals genes important for complex I formation in Arabidopsis thaliana JF - New phytologist : international journal of plant science N2 - Recent advances in gene function prediction rely on ensemble approaches that integrate results from multiple inference methods to produce superior predictions. Yet, these developments remain largely unexplored in plants. We have explored and compared two methods to integrate 10 gene co-function networks for Arabidopsis thaliana and demonstrate how the integration of these networks produces more accurate gene function predictions for a larger fraction of genes with unknown function. These predictions were used to identify genes involved in mitochondrial complex I formation, and for five of them, we confirmed the predictions experimentally. The ensemble predictions are provided as a user-friendly online database, EnsembleNet. The methods presented here demonstrate that ensemble gene function prediction is a powerful method to boost prediction performance, whereas the EnsembleNet database provides a cutting-edge community tool to guide experimentalists. KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - co-function network KW - complex I KW - ensemble prediction KW - gene function prediction Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14921 SN - 0028-646X SN - 1469-8137 VL - 217 IS - 4 SP - 1521 EP - 1534 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hasan, Ahmed Abdallah Abdalrahman Mohamed A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Role of soluble and membrane-bound dipeptidyl peptidase-4 in diabetic nephropathy JF - Journal of Molecular Endocrinology N2 - Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most frequent, devastating and costly complications of diabetes. The available therapeutic approaches are limited. Dipeptidyl peptidase type 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors represent a new class of glucose-lowering drugs that might also have reno-protective properties. DPP-4 exists in two forms: a plasma membranebound form and a soluble form, and can exert many biological actions mainly through its peptidase activity and interaction with extracellular matrix components. The kidneys have the highest DPP-4 expression level in mammalians. DPP-4 expression and urinary activity are up-regulated in diabetic nephropathy, highlighting its role as a potential target to manage diabetic nephropathy. Preclinical animal studies and some clinical data suggest that DPP-4 inhibitors decrease the progression of diabetic nephropathy in a blood pressure-and glucose-independent manner. Many studies reported that these reno-protective effects could be due to increased half-life of DPP-4 substrates such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and stromal derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1a). However, the underlying mechanisms are far from being completely understood and clearly need further investigations. KW - DPP-4 KW - diabetic nephropathy KW - DPP-4 inhibitors KW - GLP-1 and SDF-1a Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1530/JME-17-0005 SN - 0952-5041 SN - 1479-6813 VL - 59 SP - R1 EP - R10 PB - Bioscientifica LTD CY - Bristol ER - TY - THES A1 - Heim, Olga T1 - Spatiotemporal effects on bat activity above intensively managed farmland N2 - Intakte und widerstandsfähige Ökosysteme sind essenziell für die Aufrechterhaltung optimaler Lebensbedingungen für das Leben auf der Erde. Die Basis für solche Ökosysteme bilden intakte ökologische Wechselwirkungen zwischen einer Vielzahl von Arten. Durch den beispiellosen Verlust der Biodiversität, welcher durch die in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts zunehmende Intensivierung der Agrarwirtschaft und die Zerstörung und Fragmentierung von Habitaten hervorgerufen wurde, können ökologische Wechselwirkungen und damit die Funktionsfähigkeit von Agrarökosystemen stark eingeschränkt werden. Um den Rückgang der Biodiversität in Agrarökosystemen abschwächen zu können, müssen wir die ökologischen Wechselwirkungen in Agrarökosystemen besser verstehen. Hierbei spielen Fledermäuse eine besondere Rolle, weil sie verschiedenste ökologische Nischen besetzen und eine Reihe von Ökosystemleistungen erfüllen so wie z.B. die Kontrolle von Schädlingspopulationen in Agrarlandschaften. Überdies trägt die Ordnung der Fledermäuse (Chiroptera) beträchtlich zur globalen Diversität der Säugetiere bei. Obwohl viele Fledermauspopulationen durch die Intensivierung der Agrarwirtschaft dezimiert wurden, ist noch relativ wenig darüber bekannt wie unterschiedliche Fledermausarten die offene Agrarlandschaft nutzen. Dieses Wissen ist jedoch essenziell für den Schutz von Fledermausarten in intensiv bewirtschafteten Agrarlandschaften und dringend notwendig besonders vor dem Hintergrund der vorhergesagten erweiterten Ausweitung der intensiven Agrarwirtschaft. Zusätzlich werden Fledermäuse durch den zuletzt massiven Ausbau von Windkraftanlagen, welche für viele Vogel- und Fledermausarten ein erhöhtes Tötungsrisiko darstellen, bedroht. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation war es deshalb, die Einflüsse ausgewählter raum-zeitlicher Faktoren auf die artspezifische Fledermausaktivität über intensiv genutzten Agrarflächen in einer von Agrarwirtschaft dominierten Landschaft zu untersuchen. Dazu habe ich die Fledermausaktivität mittels passiver akustischer Echoortungsaufnahme in den Jahren 2012 bis 2014 auf insgesamt 113 Untersuchungsflächen in offenen Ackerflächen im Nordosten Brandenburgs erfasst. Die Echoortungsrufe in etwa 27.779 Aufnahmen habe ich manuell bis auf die Art bestimmt und die berechneten artspezifischen Aktivitätsparameter mit Hilfe von komplexen statistischen Verfahren untersucht. Im ersten Kapitel dieser Arbeit, habe ich die berechneten Aktivitätsparameter von ökologisch unterschiedlichen Fledermausgruppen auf saisonale Muster hin untersucht. Dabei war ich besonders an Unterschieden zu den bekannten saisonalen Aktivitätsmustern in naturnahen Habitaten interessiert. Im zweiten Kapitel dieser Arbeit, habe ich den Einfluss von linearen Gehölzstrukturen am Feldrand und von kleinen Wasserflächen (Söllen) innerhalb von Ackerflächen auf die Flug- und Jagdaktivität verschiedener Fledermausarten über diesen Flächen untersucht. Zusätzlich war ich daran interessiert, ob sich etwaige Effekte dieser Landschaftselemente auf die Fledermausaktivität im Laufe des Jahres verändern. Im dritten Kapitel dieser Arbeit war es mein Ziel den Zusammenhang zwischen unterschiedlichen räumlichen und zeitlichen Einflüssen auf die artspezifische Fledermausaktivität über offenen Agrarflächen zu untersuchen. Dabei habe ich meine Untersuchungen auf Faktoren fokussiert, die dafür bekannt sind Fledermausaktivität zu beeinflussen, wie z.B. Faktoren auf kleinräumiger Skala, die mit der Beuteverfügbarkeit zusammenhängen, und verschiedene Landschaftscharakteristika auf großräumiger Skala. Auf der zeitlichen Skala, habe ich mich auf den Einfluss der Saison konzentriert. Zusammenfassend heben die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit die Wichtigkeit naturnaher Landschaftselemente für die Fledermausaktivität über Agrarflächen hervor. Allerdings war nicht nur die Landschaftsstruktur für die Fledermausaktivität über Ackerflächen ausschlaggebend, sondern auch der Einfluss von interaktiven Effekten zwischen z.B. Landschaftscharakteristika und der lokalen Beuteverfügbarkeit. Ein weiteres Kernergebnis ist die saisonale Variabilität des Einflusses der Landschaftsstruktur auf die Fledermausaktivität. Hierbei hatten bestimmte Landschaftselemente vor allem im Sommer einen großen Einfluss auf die Fledermausaktivität. Das Potenzial der Ökosystemleistung durch spezifische Fledermausarten, welches wiederholt in den unterschiedlichen Kapiteln hervorgehoben wurde, ist ein weiteres Kernergebnis. Da die Fledermausaktivität jedoch stark von der Landschaftsstruktur in der Umgebung abhängt, ist es wichtig diese fledermausfreundlich zu gestalten, um die Ökosystemleistung der Schädlingskontrolle über Agrarflächen nutzen zu können. Schlussendlich trägt diese Arbeit in ihrer Gesamtheit zum bestehenden Wissen über die Fledermausbiologie und -ökologie bei und verdeutlicht die komplexen Wechselwirkungen unterschiedlicher Einflüsse auf mehreren raum-zeitlichen Ebenen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit können als Basis zur Verbesserung und Entwicklung von Schutzmaßnahmen für Fledermäuse in intensiv genutzten Agrarlandschaften dienen. Da Fledermäuse als gute Bioindikatoren gelten, können effektive Schutzmaßnahmen für Fledermäuse auch zum Schutz anderer Arten beitragen und damit potenziell den weiteren Verlust der Biodiversität in Agrarlandschaften abschwächen. N2 - Biodiversity and intact ecological interactions form the basis for functional and resilient ecosystems that maintain optimal conditions for life on earth. During the second half of the 20th century, especially land-use changes and an intensification of agricultural management caused an unprecedented loss of biodiversity in agroecosystems worldwide. Concerns have been raised that the ongoing loss of biodiversity would ultimately lead to impaired ecological interactions and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes. In order to stop biodiversity loss while producing enough food for a growing world population, we need to gain detailed knowledge on ecological interactions and the functioning of agroecosystems as a whole. Bats (Chiroptera) represent an important component of global biodiversity, occupy a variety of ecological niches and fulfill numerous ecosystem services. Especially in temperate zone agroecosystems, bats were repeatedly reported to contribute to the reduction of pest insects above intensively managed arable fields. However, bat populations have been decimated by the consequence of land-use intensification which led to their legal protection status in the European Union (Council of Europe, 1979). The increasing number of wind turbines on arable fields poses an additional threat to bats as they might get injured or killed when flying too close to wind turbine blades. Although a large amount of land area is covered by arable fields, not much is known about how bats use the intensively managed agricultural landscape. In the present thesis, my general aim was to identify the relevance of factors at different spatiotemporal scales for shaping species-specific bat activity above intensively managed arable fields. Therefore, I repeatedly monitored bat activity above open arable fields in a landscape dominated by agriculture which is located in Northeast Brandenburg, Germany. From 2012 to 2014, I recorded echolocation calls of bats on a total of 113 sites using a passive acoustic approach. I obtained a total of 27,779 recordings, identified the recorded echolocation calls manually to species level and calculated species-specific bat activity measures. Depending on the focus of research, I modeled the obtained species-specific activity measures using generalized linear and additive mixed effect models. In Chapter I, I focused on identifying seasonal patterns in several species-specific activity measures of different functional bat groups. In Chapter II, I investigated small-scale effects of landscape elements, such as hedgerows and forest edges, on the flight and foraging activity of different bat species along the edge-field interface. Additionally, I aimed at identifying whether these effects are influenced by small ponds located within arable field and whether these effects change across seasons. In Chapter III, my aim was to investigate the interaction between factors from different spatiotemporal levels on the flight and foraging activity of bats above arable fields. At the small spatial scale, I focused on prey availability, at a large spatial scale on selected parameters which describe landscape characteristics and at the temporal scale on seasonal effects. The major findings obtained in each chapter can be summarized in the following three points. The first major finding is that not only landscape elements on a small spatial scale, e.g. a hedgerow at the edge of an arable field, but also landscape characteristics on a large spatial scale, e.g. landscape composition, shaped species-specific bat activity above open arable fields. This activity was also strongly influenced by interactions between landscape characteristics and local prey availability. Second, the influence of landscape elements and characteristics on bat activity above arable fields was not constant over time but changed across seasons with the strongest impact during summer as compared to spring and autumn. Third, I found indications of ecosystem service provided by N. noctula and P. nathusii in all three chapters, as especially these bat species were repeatedly found to forage above arable fields. This foraging activity was positively influenced by the proximity to landscape elements at the edge of the arable field but also by the presence of small ponds within the arable field. In light of the obtained findings, I strongly recommend protecting and most importantly recreating semi-natural landscape elements in the agricultural landscape. Furthermore, I strongly recommend against the construction of wind turbines close to these linear woody vegetation edges as bats were found to be active close to these landscape elements. Additionally, the operation times for wind turbines should be down-regulated during the mating and migration period in autumn due to high bat activity above arable fields. Since bats are considered being good bioindicators, effective conservation measures for bats might contribute to the protection of species from other taxa leading to an overall support of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. In their entirety, the findings in this thesis contribute to the knowledge of different aspects of bat ecology and shed light on the complex interplay between factors from different spatiotemporal levels that shape bat activity above arable fields. Additionally, they can serve as a basis for the improvement and development of conservation measures for bats in agricultural landscapes. KW - European bats KW - Europäische Fledermausarten KW - conventional agriculture KW - konventionelle Landwirtschaft KW - landscape analysis KW - Landschaftsanalyse KW - conservation KW - Naturschutz Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heim, Olga A1 - Lenski, Johannes A1 - Schulze, Jelena A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Eccard, Jana A1 - Voigt, Christian C. T1 - The relevance of vegetation structures and small water bodies for bats foraging above farmland JF - Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft für Ökologie N2 - Bats are known to forage and commute close to vegetation structures when moving across the agricultural matrix, but the role of isolated landscape elements in arable fields for bat activity is unknown. Therefore, we investigated the influence of small isolated ponds which lie within arable fields close to vegetation structures on the flight and foraging activity of bats. Additionally, we compared species-specific activity measures between forest edges and linear structures such as hedgerows. We repeatedly recorded bat activity using passive acoustic monitoring along 20 transects extending from the vegetation edge up to 200 m into the arable field (hereafter: edge-field interface) with a small pond present at five transects per edge type (linear vs. forest). Using generalized linear mixed effect models, we analyzed the effects of edge type, pond presence and the season on species-specific flight and foraging activity within the edge-field interface. We found a higher flight activity of Nyctalus noctula and Pipistrellus pygmaeus above the arable field when a pond was present. Furthermore, Pipistrellus nathusii and Pipistrellus pipistrellus foraged more frequently at forest edges than at linear structures (e.g. hedgerows). Additionally, we found three major patterns of seasonal variation in the activity of bats along the edge-field interface. This study highlights the species-specific and dynamic use of forest and hedgerow or tree line edges by bats and their importance for different bat species in the agricultural landscape. Further, additional landscape elements such as small isolated ponds within arable fields might support the activity of bats above the open agricultural landscape, thereby facilitating agroecosystem functioning. Therefore, additional landscape elements within managed areas should be restored and protected against the conversion into arable land and better linked to surrounding landscape elements in order to efficiently support bats within the agroecosystem. KW - Hedgerow KW - Forest edge KW - Pond KW - European bats KW - Agricultural landscape KW - Wind turbines Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2017.12.001 SN - 1439-1791 SN - 1618-0089 VL - 27 SP - 9 EP - 19 PB - Elsevier GMBH CY - München ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heim, Wieland A1 - Trense, Daronja A1 - Sokolova, Galina V. A1 - Kitagawa, Tamaki T1 - Increased populations of endangered cranes after Amur River flood JF - Waterbirds N2 - Dam construction on the Zeya River, which is an important tributary of the Amur River in Far East Russia, has caused significant declines in water levels and frequency of floods in the adjacent floodplains since 1980. However, an extreme flood event occurred in 2013. Populations of six crane species were monitored before and after these drastic water level changes at Muraviovka Park in Far East Russia, an important breeding and stop-over site. Individuals were counted by territory mapping during the breeding season (2000-2015) and by roosting site counts during autumn migration (2006-2015). The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in water levels had a significant impact on local and migratory crane populations. We found a positive effect of flooding on numbers of breeding Red-crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis) and White-naped Cranes (Antigone vipio), as well as on numbers of roosting Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha) in autumn. Siberian Cranes (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) were only observed after the wetlands were flooded. The results of this study highlight the importance of elevated Amur River water levels for crane populations of global importance. KW - Antigone vipio KW - cranes KW - dam construction KW - East Asian flyway KW - floodplain KW - Grus japonensis KW - Grus monacha KW - Leucogeranus leucogeranus KW - population trend KW - water level Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1675/063.040.0309 SN - 1524-4695 SN - 1938-5390 VL - 40 SP - 282 EP - 288 PB - Waterbirds SOC CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - Plant-soil feedback effects can be masked by aboveground herbivory under natural field conditions JF - Oecologia N2 - For plants, herbivory and interactions with their surrounding soil ecosystem are crucial factors influencing individual performance and plant-community composition. Until now, research has mostly focused on individual effects of herbivory or plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) on plant growth and community composition, but few studies have explicitly investigated herbivory in the context of PSFs. These few studies, however, were performed under greenhouse conditions even though PSFs and herbivory may differ between greenhouse and field conditions. Therefore, we performed a field experiment in a grassland, testing the growth responses of three grass species that consistently differ in local abundance, on soils previously conditioned by these species. We tested these PSF effects for the three species both in the presence and in the absence of aboveground herbivores. Without herbivores, the two subdominant species suffered from negative PSF effects. However, in the presence of herbivores and on heterospecific soils, the same two species experienced a significant loss of shoot biomass, whereas, in contrast, enhanced root growth was observed on conspecific soils, resulting in overall neutral PSF effects. The dominant species was not damaged by herbivores and showed overall neutral PSF effects in the field with and without herbivores. Our study provides empirical evidence that negative PSF effects that exist under natural field conditions in grasslands can be overwhelmed by aboveground herbivory. Hence, potential PSF effects might not be detected in the field, because other abiotic and biotic interactions such as aboveground herbivory have stronger effects on plant performance and might therefore mask or override these PSF effects. KW - Herbivores KW - Field experiment KW - Plant-community composition KW - Plant diversity KW - Plant-soil feedback Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3997-y SN - 0029-8549 SN - 1432-1939 VL - 186 IS - 1 SP - 235 EP - 246 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Henkel, Janin A1 - Coleman, Charles Dominic A1 - Schraplau, Anne A1 - Jöhrens, Korinna A1 - Weber, Daniela A1 - Castro, Jose Pedro A1 - Hugo, Martin A1 - Schulz, Tim Julius A1 - Krämer, Stephanie A1 - Schürmann, Annette A1 - Püschel, Gerhard Paul T1 - Induction of Steatohepatitis (NASH) with Insulin Resistance in Wild-type B6 Mice by a Western-type Diet Containing Soybean Oil and Cholesterol JF - Molecular medicine N2 - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are hepatic manifestations of the metabolic syndrome. Many currently used animal models of NAFLD/NASH lack clinical features of either NASH or metabolic syndrome such as hepatic inflammation and fibrosis (e.g., high-fat diets) or overweight and insulin resistance (e.g., methionine-choline-deficient diets), or they are based on monogenetic defects (e.g., ob/ob mice). In the current study, a Western-type diet containing soybean oil with high n-6-PUFA and 0.75% cholesterol (SOD + Cho) induced steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis accompanied by hepatic lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress in livers of C57BL/6-mice, which in addition showed increased weight gain and insulin resistance, thus displaying a phenotype closely resembling all clinical features of NASH in patients with metabolic syndrome. In striking contrast, a soybean oil-containing Western-type diet without cholesterol (SOD) induced only mild steatosis but not hepatic inflammation, fibrosis, weight gain or insulin resistance. Another high-fat diet, mainly consisting of lard and supplemented with fructose in drinking water (LAD + Fru), resulted in more prominent weight gain, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis than SOD + Cho, but livers were devoid of inflammation and fibrosis. Although both LAD + Fru-and SOD + Cho-fed animals had high plasma cholesterol, liver cholesterol was elevated only in SOD + Cho animals. Cholesterol induced expression of chemotactic and inflammatory cytokines in cultured Kupffer cells and rendered hepatocytes more susceptible to apoptosis. In summary, dietary cholesterol in the SOD + Cho diet may trigger hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. SOD + Cho-fed animals may be a useful disease model displaying many clinical features of patients with the metabolic syndrome and NASH. KW - Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) KW - Typical Western Diet KW - Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) KW - Dietary Cholesterol KW - Kupffer Cells Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2119/molmed.2016.00203 SN - 1076-1551 SN - 1528-3658 VL - 23 SP - 70 EP - 82 PB - Feinstein Inst. for Medical Research CY - Manhasset ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heunisch, Fabian A1 - Chaykovska, Lyubov A1 - von Einem, Gina A1 - Alter, Markus A1 - Dschietzig, Thomas A1 - Kretschmer, Axel A1 - Kellner, Karl-Heinz A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - ADMA predicts major adverse renal events in patients with mild renal impairment and/or diabetes mellitus undergoing coronary angiography JF - Medicine N2 - Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a competitive inhibitor of the nitric oxide (NO)-synthase and a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction (ED). ED plays an important role in the pathogenesis of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). The aim of our study was to evaluate serum ADMA concentration as a biomarker of an acute renal damage during the follow-up of 90 days after contrast medium (CM) application. Blood samples were obtained from 330 consecutive patients with diabetes mellitus or mild renal impairment immediately before, 24 and 48 hours after the CM application for coronary angiography. The patients were followed for 90 days. The composite endpoints were major adverse renal events (MARE) defined as occurrence of death, initiation of dialysis, or a doubling of serum creatinine concentration. Overall, ADMA concentration in plasma increased after CM application, although, there was no differences between ADMA levels in patients with and without CIN. ADMA concentration 24 hours after the CM application was predictive for dialysis with a specificity of 0.889 and sensitivity of 0.653 at values higher than 0.71 mu mol/L (area under the curve: 0.854, 95% confidential interval: 0.767-0.941, P<0.001). This association remained significant in multivariate Cox regression models adjusted for relevant factors of long-term renal outcome. 24 hours after the CM application, ADMA concentration in plasma was predictive for MARE with a specificity of 0.833 and sensitivity of 0.636 at a value of more than 0.70 mu mol/L (area under the curve: 0.750, 95% confidence interval: 0.602-0.897, P=0.004). Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that ADMA and anemia were significant predictors of MARE. Further analysis revealed that increased ADMA concentration in plasma was highly significant predictor of MARE in patients with CIN. Moreover, patients with CIN and MARE had the highest plasma ADMA levels 24 hours after CM exposure in our study cohort. The impact of ADMA on MARE was independent of such known CIN risk factors as anemia, pre-existing renal failure, pre-existing heart failure, and diabetes. ADMA concentration in plasma is a promising novel biomarker of major contrast-induced nephropathy-associated events 90 days after contrast media exposure. KW - asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) KW - biomarkers of renal failure KW - contrast-induced nephropathy Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000006065 SN - 0025-7974 SN - 1536-5964 VL - 96 IS - 6 PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoehn, Richard S. A1 - Jernigan, Peter L. A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Chang, Alex L. A1 - Midura, Emily F. A1 - Caldwell, Charles C. A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard A1 - Lentsch, Alex B. A1 - Edwards, Michael J. A1 - Gulbins, Erich A1 - Pritts, Timothy A. T1 - Acid sphingomyelinase inhibition in stored erythrocytes reduces transfusion-associated lung inflammation JF - Annals of surgery : a monthly review of surgical science and practice N2 - Objective: We aimed to identify the role of the enzyme acid sphingomyelinase in the aging of stored units of packed red blood cells (pRBCs) and subsequent lung inflammation after transfusion. Summary Background Data: Large volume pRBC transfusions are associated with multiple adverse clinical sequelae, including lung inflammation. Microparticles are formed in stored pRBCs over time and have been shown to contribute to lung inflammation after transfusion. Methods: Human and murine pRBCs were stored with or without amitriptyline, a functional inhibitor of acid sphingomyelinase, or obtained from acid sphingomyelinase-deficient mice, and lung inflammation was studied in mice receiving transfusions of pRBCs and microparticles isolated from these units. Results: Acid sphingomyelinase activity in pRBCs was associated with the formation of ceramide and the release of microparticles. Treatment of pRBCs with amitriptyline inhibited acid sphingomyelinase activity, ceramide accumulation, and microparticle production during pRBC storage. Transfusion of aged pRBCs or microparticles isolated from aged blood into mice caused lung inflammation. This was attenuated after transfusion of pRBCs treated with amitriptyline or from acid sphingomyelinase-deficient mice. Conclusions: Acid sphingomyelinase inhibition in stored pRBCs offers a novel mechanism for improving the quality of stored blood. KW - acid sphingomyelinase KW - blood banking KW - ceramide KW - lung inflammation KW - microparticle Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000001648 SN - 0003-4932 SN - 1528-1140 VL - 265 IS - 1 SP - 218 EP - 226 PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holzlöhner, Pamela A1 - Hanack, Katja T1 - Generation of murine monoclonal antibodies by hybridoma technology JF - JoVE : Video journal N2 - Monoclonal antibodies are universal binding molecules and are widely used in biomedicine and research. Nevertheless, the generation of these binding molecules is time-consuming and laborious due to the complicated handling and lack of alternatives. The aim of this protocol is to provide one standard method for the generation of monoclonal antibodies using hybridoma technology. This technology combines two steps. Step 1 is an appropriate immunization of the animal and step 2 is the fusion of B lymphocytes with immortal myeloma cells in order to generate hybrids possessing both parental functions, such as the production of antibody molecules and immortality. The generated hybridoma cells were then recloned and diluted to obtain stable monoclonal cell cultures secreting the desired monoclonal antibody in the culture supernatant. The supernatants were tested in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for antigen specificity. After the selection of appropriate cell clones, the cells were transferred to mass cultivation in order to produce the desired antibody molecule in large amounts. The purification of the antibodies is routinely performed by affinity chromatography. After purification, the antibody molecule can be characterized and validated for the final test application. The whole process takes 8 to 12 months of development, and there is a high risk that the antibody will not work in the desired test system. KW - Immunology KW - Issue 119 KW - monoclonal antibodies KW - hybridoma technology KW - myeloma cells KW - B lymphocytes KW - antigen KW - immunconjugate Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3791/54832 SN - 1940-087X IS - 119 PB - JoVE CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hornick, Thomas A1 - Bach, Lennart T. A1 - Crawfurd, Katharine J. A1 - Spilling, Kristian A1 - Achterberg, Eric P. A1 - Woodhouse, Jason Nicholas A1 - Schulz, Kai G. A1 - Brussaard, Corina P. D. A1 - Riebesell, Ulf A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - Ocean acidification impacts bacteria-phytoplankton coupling at low-nutrient conditions JF - Biogeosciences N2 - The oceans absorb about a quarter of the annually produced anthropogenic atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), resulting in a decrease in surface water pH, a process termed ocean acidification (OA). Surprisingly little is known about how OA affects the physiology of heterotrophic bacteria or the coupling of heterotrophic bacteria to phytoplankton when nutrients are limited. Previous experiments were, for the most part, undertaken during productive phases or following nutrient additions designed to stimulate algal blooms. Therefore, we performed an in situ large-volume mesocosm (similar to 55 m(3)) experiment in the Baltic Sea by simulating different fugacities of CO2 (fCO(2)) extending from present to future conditions. The study was conducted in July-August after the nominal spring bloom, in order to maintain low-nutrient conditions throughout the experiment. This resulted in phytoplankton communities dominated by small-sized functional groups (picophytoplankton). There was no consistent fCO(2)-induced effect on bacterial protein production (BPP), cell-specific BPP (csBPP) or biovolumes (BVs) of either free-living (FL) or particle-associated (PA) heterotrophic bacteria, when considered as individual components (univariate analyses). Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) revealed a significant effect of the fCO(2) treatment on entire assemblages of dissolved and particulate nutrients, metabolic parameters and the bacteria-phytoplankton community. However, distance-based linear modelling only identified fCO(2) as a factor explaining the variability observed amongst the microbial community composition, but not for explaining variability within the metabolic parameters. This suggests that fCO(2) impacts on microbial metabolic parameters occurred indirectly through varying physicochemical parameters and microbial species composition. Cluster analyses examining the co-occurrence of different functional groups of bacteria and phytoplankton further revealed a separation of the four fCO(2)-treated mesocosms from both control mesocosms, indicating that complex trophic interactions might be altered in a future acidified ocean. Possible consequences for nutrient cycling and carbon export are still largely unknown, in particular in a nutrient-limited ocean. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1-2017 SN - 1726-4170 SN - 1726-4189 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ietswaart, Robert A1 - Rosa, Stefanie A1 - Wu, Zhe A1 - Dean, Caroline A1 - Howard, Martin T1 - Cell-Size-Dependent Transcription of FLC and Its Antisense Long Non-coding RNA COOLAIR Explain Cell-to-Cell Expression Variation JF - Cell systems N2 - Single-cell quantification of transcription kinetics and variability promotes a mechanistic understanding of gene regulation. Here, using single-molecule RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization and mathematical modeling, we dissect cellular RNA dynamics for Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). FLC expression quantitatively determines flowering time and is regulated by antisense (COOLAIR) transcription. In cells without observable COOLAIR expression, we quantify FLC transcription initiation, elongation, intron processing, and lariat degradation, as well as mRNA release from the locus and degradation. In these heterogeneously sized cells, FLC mRNA number increases linearly with cell size, resulting in a large cell-to-cell variability in transcript level. This variation is accounted for by cell-sizedependent, Poissonian FLC mRNA production, but not by large transcriptional bursts. In COOLAIRexpressing cells, however, antisense transcription increases with cell size and contributes to FLC transcription decreasing with cell size. Our analysis therefore reveals an unexpected role for antisense transcription in modulating the scaling of transcription with cell size. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2017.05.010 SN - 2405-4712 SN - 2405-4720 VL - 4 SP - 622 EP - 635 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - THES A1 - Janowski, Marcin Andrzej T1 - Investigating role of the essential GTPase - AtRsgA in the assembly of the small ribosomal subunit in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - THES A1 - Janowski, Marcin Andrzej T1 - Investigating role of the essential GTPase - AtRsgA in the assembly of the small ribosomal subunit in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast N2 - Plastid protein biosynthesis occurs on bacterial-type 70S ribosomes consisting of a large (50S) and a small (30S) subunit. However, since many steps of ribosome biogenesis are not thermodynamically favorable at biological conditions, it requires many assembly factors. One group of assembly factors, circularly permuted GTPases, was implicated in 30S subunit maturation in E. coli, by a protein RsgA. RsgA orthologues are present in bacteria and plastid-containing species and in silico analysis revealed presence of a RsgA-like protein in Arabidopsis thaliana. To functionally characterize the Arabidopsis orthologue, two AtRsgA T-DNA insertion lines were analyzed in this study. The exon line (rsgA-e) led to embryo lethality, while the intron line (rsgA-i) caused severe dwarf, pale green phenotype. Further investigation of rsgA-i mutant line revealed defects in chloroplast biogenesis which led to increased number of chloroplasts, decreased chloroplast size, decreased air space between mesophyll cells and smaller shoot apical meristems, which showed unusual proplastid accumulation. Moreover, rsgA-i plants showed reduction in chlorophyll A and B content, decreased electron transport rate and photosynthetic efficiency. Further analyses revealed that the protein is involved in chloroplast 30S subunit maturation. Interestingly, we observed that while chloroplast-targeted and chloroplast-encoded proteins are generally downregulated in the mutant, a contrasting upregulation of the corresponding transcripts is observed, indicating an elaborate compensatory mechanism. To conclude, the study presented here reveals a ribosome assembly factor and a compensatory mechanism activated during impaired chloroplast function. KW - ribosome assembly KW - GTPase KW - chloro-ribosome KW - translation Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kang, Mi-Sun A1 - Lim, Hae-Soon A1 - Oh, Jong-Suk A1 - Lim, You-jin A1 - Wuertz-Kozak, Karin A1 - Harro, Janette M. A1 - Shirtliff, Mark E. A1 - Achermann, Yvonne T1 - Antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus salivarius and Lactobacillus fermentum against Staphylococcus aureus JF - Pathogens and disease / Federation of European Microbiology Societies N2 - The increasing prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has become a major public health threat. While lactobacilli were recently found useful in combating various pathogens, limited data exist on their therapeutic potential for S. aureus infections. The aim of this study was to determine whether Lactobacillus salivarius was able to produce bactericidal activities against S. aureus and to determine whether the inhibition was due to a generalized reduction in pH or due to secreted Lactobacillus product(s). We found an 8.6-log10 reduction of planktonic and a 6.3-log10 reduction of biofilm S. aureus. In contrast, the previously described anti-staphylococcal effects of L. fermentum only caused a 4.0-log10 reduction in planktonic S. aureus cells, with no effect on biofilm S. aureus cells. Killing of S. aureus was partially pH dependent, but independent of nutrient depletion. Cell-free supernatant that was pH neutralized and heat inactivated or proteinase K treated had significantly reduced killing of L. salivarius than with pH-neutralized supernatant alone. Proteomic analysis of the L. salivarius secretome identified a total of five secreted proteins including a LysM-containing peptidoglycan binding protein and a protein peptidase M23B. These proteins may represent potential novel anti-staphylococcal agents that could be effective against S. aureus biofilms. KW - antibacterial activity KW - biofilm KW - Lactobacillus fermentum KW - Lactobacillus salivarius KW - LysM KW - Staphylococcus aureus Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/ftx009 SN - 2049-632X VL - 75 IS - 2 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kehlmaier, Christian A1 - Barlow, Axel A1 - Hastings, Alexander K. A1 - Vamberger, Melita A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Steadman, David W. A1 - Albury, Nancy A. A1 - Franz, Richard A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Fritz, Uwe T1 - Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships of the extinct bahamian giant tortoise Chelonoidis alburyorum JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London : Series B, Biological sciences N2 - Ancient DNA of extinct species from the Pleistocene and Holocene has provided valuable evolutionary insights. However, these are largely restricted to mammals and high latitudes because DNA preservation in warm climates is typically poor. In the tropics and subtropics, non-avian reptiles constitute a significant part of the fauna and little is known about the genetics of the many extinct reptiles from tropical islands. We have reconstructed the near-complete mitochondrial genome of an extinct giant tortoise from the Bahamas (Chelonoidis alburyorum) using an approximately 1000-year-old humerus from a water-filled sinkhole (blue hole) on Great Abaco Island. Phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses place this extinct species as closely related to Galapagos (C. niger complex) and Chaco tortoises (C. chilensis), and provide evidence for repeated overseas dispersal in this tortoise group. The ancestors of extant Chelonoidis species arrived in South America from Africa only after the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and dispersed from there to the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands. Our results also suggest that the anoxic, thermally buffered environment of blue holes may enhance DNA preservation, and thus are opening a window for better understanding evolution and population history of extinct tropical species, which would likely still exist without human impact. KW - Bahamas KW - biogeography KW - extinction KW - palaeontology KW - phylogeny Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2235 SN - 0962-8452 SN - 1471-2954 VL - 284 PB - The Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Kersting, Sebastian T1 - Isothermal nucleic acid amplification for the detection of infectious pathogens Y1 - 2017 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kleine-Vehn, Jürgen A1 - Sauer, Michael ED - Kleine-Vehn, Jürgen ED - Sauer, Michael T1 - Preface T2 - Plant Hormones: Methods and Protocols Y1 - 2017 SN - 978-1-4939-6469-7 SN - 978-1-4939-6467-3 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6469-7 SN - 1064-3745 SN - 1940-6029 VL - 1497 SP - V EP - V PB - Springer CY - New York ET - 3 ER -