TY - JOUR A1 - Tanner, Norman A1 - Lichtenberg-Kraag, Birgit T1 - Identification and Quantification of Single and Multi-Adulteration of Beeswax by FTIR-ATR Spectroscopy JF - European journal of lipid science and technology N2 - Marketing of adulterated beeswax foundation has recently become a major economic problem for beekeepers. Paraffin contamination leads to collapse of combs, and stearic acid has a negative influence on the development of bee brood. The quality of beeswax for beekeeping has not been standardized in EU regulations. Recently, it was shown that attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) can be used to determine beeswax adulteration. Differences in the IR spectra of authentic beeswax can be identified and calculated through comparison with authentic beeswax. In this study, the method is further validated by employing a high number of samples of authentic beeswax from different origins. Low quantification and detection limits are achieved for paraffin, stearic acid, tallow, carnauba wax, and candelilla wax. Furthermore, the FTIR-ATR analytical conditions are verified by analyzing 358 samples of commercial and beekeeper-produced beeswax foundations. Multi-adulterated samples with as many as five different additives in beeswax mixtures are identified with the same accuracy as single substances. Additionally, the spectra of a further 14 different natural and synthetic waxes and hardened fats are analyzed and are compared with beeswax. Finally, a spectral library is established that can be used for further studies. Practical Applications: FTIR-ATR is a fast and cost-efficient tool in beeswax analysis for accurately monitoring a high sample volume. Analysis of 358 beeswax foundations showed an adulteration of 21.8% of the samples with paraffin, stearic acid, tallow, and combinations. Based on the results of this study, it is possible to detect beeswax adulteration of less than 3% of these adulterants and their combinations by FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. This method can be used for monitoring beeswax foundations to identify adulterated materials, exclude these materials from the recycling process, and produce high-quality beeswax, which is essential for bee health. KW - beeswax KW - beeswax substitutes KW - candelilla wax KW - carnauba wax KW - FTIR-ATR KW - multi-adulteration KW - paraffin KW - stearic acid KW - tallow Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.201900245 SN - 1438-7697 SN - 1438-9312 VL - 121 IS - 12 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Feiner, Rebecca Christine A1 - Teschner, Julian A1 - Teschner, Kathrin E. A1 - Radukic, Marco T. A1 - Baumann, Tobias A1 - Hagen, Sven A1 - Hannappel, Yvonne A1 - Biere, Niklas A1 - Anselmetti, Dario A1 - Arndt, Katja Maren A1 - Müller, Kristian Mark T1 - rAAV Engineering for Capsid-Protein Enzyme Insertions and Mosaicism Reveals Resilience to Mutational, Structural and Thermal Perturbations JF - International journal of molecular sciences N2 - Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) provide outstanding options for customization and superior capabilities for gene therapy. To access their full potential, facile genetic manipulation is pivotal, including capsid loop modifications. Therefore, we assessed capsid tolerance to modifications of the structural VP proteins in terms of stability and plasticity. Flexible glycine-serine linkers of increasing sizes were, at the genetic level, introduced into the 587 loop region of the VP proteins of serotype 2, the best studied AAV representative. Analyses of biological function and thermal stability with respect to genome release of viral particles revealed structural plasticity. In addition, insertion of the 29 kDa enzyme beta-lactamase into the loop region was tested with a complete or a mosaic modification setting. For the mosaic approach, investigation of VP2 trans expression revealed that a Kozak sequence was required to prevent leaky scanning. Surprisingly, even the full capsid modification with beta-lactamase allowed for the assembly of capsids with a concomitant increase in size. Enzyme activity assays revealed lactamase functionality for both rAAV variants, which demonstrates the structural robustness of this platform technology. KW - adeno-associated-virus KW - beta-lactamase KW - inverted terminal repeat (ITR) KW - loop modification KW - capsid stability Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20225702 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 20 IS - 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lechthaler, Silvia A1 - Colangeli, Pierluigi A1 - Gazzabin, Moira A1 - Anfodillo, Tommaso T1 - Axial anatomy of the leaf midrib provides new insights into the hydraulic architecture and cavitation patterns of Acer pseudoplatanus leaves JF - Journal of experimental botany N2 - The structure of leaf veins is typically described by a hierarchical scheme (e.g. midrib, 1(st) order, 2nd order), which is used to predict variation in conduit diameter from one order to another whilst overlooking possible variation within the same order. We examined whether xylem conduit diameter changes within the same vein order, with resulting consequences for resistance to embolism. We measured the hydraulic diameter (D-h), and number of vessels (V-N) along the midrib and petioles of leaves of Acer pseudoplatanus, and estimated the leaf area supplied (A(leaf-sup)) at different points of the midrib and how variation in anatomical traits affected embolism resistance. We found that D-h scales with distance from the midrib tip (path length, L) with a power of 0.42, and that V-N scales with A(leaf-sup) with a power of 0.66. Total conductive area scales isometrically with A(leaf-sup). Embolism events along the midrib occurred first in the basipetal part and then at the leaf tip where vessels are narrower. The distance from the midrib tip is a good predictor of the variation in vessel diameter along the 1st order veins in A. pseudoplatanus leaves and this anatomical pattern seems to have an effect on hydraulic integrity since wider vessels at the leaf base embolize first. KW - Acer pseudoplatanus KW - Leaf cavitation KW - leaf hydraulic architecture KW - leaf midrib KW - total conductive area KW - sycamore maple KW - vessel diameter KW - vessel number Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erz347 SN - 0022-0957 SN - 1460-2431 VL - 70 IS - 21 SP - 6195 EP - 6201 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehren, Christoph A1 - Wuertz-Kozak, Karin A1 - Sauer, Daniel A1 - Hitzl, Wolfgang A1 - Pehlivanoglu, Tuna A1 - Heider, Franziska T1 - Implant Design and the Anchoring Mechanism Influence the Incidence of Heterotopic Ossification in Cervical Total Disc Replacement at 2-year Follow-up JF - Spine N2 - Study Design. A nonrandomized, prospective, and single-center clinical trial. Objective. The aim of this study was to determine whether the prosthesis design, and especially changes in the primary anchoring mechanism between the keel-based ProDisc C and the spike-based ProDisc Vivo, affects the frequency of heterotopic ossification (HO) formation over time. Summary of Background Data. The occurrence of motion-restricting HO as well as underlying risk factors has so far been a widely discussed, but not well understand phenomenon. The anchoring mechanism and the opening of the anterior cortex may be possible causes of this unwanted complication. Methods. Forty consecutive patients treated with the ProDisc C and 42 consecutive patients treated with the ProDisc Vivo were compared with respect to radiological and clinical outcome, with 2 years of follow-up. Clinical outcome scores included the Neck Disability Index (NDI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and arm and neck pain self-assessment questionnaires. Radiological outcomes included the segmental lordosis and range of motion (ROM) of the index-segment as well as the occurrence of HO. Results. The clinical outcome parameters improved in both groups significantly. [ProDisc C: VAS arm and neck pain from 6.3 and 6.2 preoperatively to 0.7 and 1.3; NDI from 23.0 to 3.7; ProDisc Vivo: VAS arm and neck pain from 6.3 and 4.9 to 1.4 and 1.6, NDI from 34.1 to 8.7; 2-year follow-up (FU)]. The ProDisc Vivo cohort demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of HO than the ProDisc C group at 1-year FU (P = 0.0005) and 2-year FU (P = 0.005). Specifically, high-grade HO occurred in 9% versus 31%. Conclusion. These findings demonstrate that prosthesis designs that allow primary anchoring without violation of the cortical surface help to reduce the incidence of severe ossification, possibly affecting the functionality and mobility of the artificial disc device over of time. KW - anchoring mechanism KW - cervical artificial disc replacement KW - heterotopic ossification (HO) KW - implant design KW - ProDisc C KW - ProDisc Vivo KW - total disc replacement Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0000000000003098 SN - 0362-2436 SN - 1528-1159 VL - 44 IS - 21 SP - 1471 EP - 1480 PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kielar, Charlotte A1 - Xin, Yang A1 - Xu, Xiaodan A1 - Zhu, Siqi A1 - Gorin, Nelli A1 - Grundmeier, Guido A1 - Möser, Christin A1 - Smith, David M. A1 - Keller, Adrian T1 - Effect of staple age on DNA origami nanostructure assembly and stability JF - Molecules N2 - DNA origami nanostructures are widely employed in various areas of fundamental and applied research. Due to the tremendous success of the DNA origami technique in the academic field, considerable efforts currently aim at the translation of this technology from a laboratory setting to real-world applications, such as nanoelectronics, drug delivery, and biosensing. While many of these real-world applications rely on an intact DNA origami shape, they often also subject the DNA origami nanostructures to rather harsh and potentially damaging environmental and processing conditions. Furthermore, in the context of DNA origami mass production, the long-term storage of DNA origami nanostructures or their pre-assembled components also becomes an issue of high relevance, especially regarding the possible negative effects on DNA origami structural integrity. Thus, we investigated the effect of staple age on the self-assembly and stability of DNA origami nanostructures using atomic force microscopy. Different harsh processing conditions were simulated by applying different sample preparation protocols. Our results show that staple solutions may be stored at -20 degrees C for several years without impeding DNA origami self-assembly. Depending on DNA origami shape and superstructure, however, staple age may have negative effects on DNA origami stability under harsh treatment conditions. Mass spectrometry analysis of the aged staple mixtures revealed no signs of staple fragmentation. We, therefore, attribute the increased DNA origami sensitivity toward environmental conditions to an accumulation of damaged nucleobases, which undergo weaker base-pairing interactions and thus lead to reduced duplex stability. KW - DNA origami KW - atomic force microscopy KW - stability KW - storage Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24142577 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 24 IS - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kopp, Johannes Florian A1 - Müller, Sandra Marie A1 - Pohl, Gabriele A1 - Lossow, Kristina A1 - Kipp, Anna Patricia A1 - Schwerdtle, Tanja T1 - A quick and simple method for the determination of six trace elements in mammalian serum samples using ICP-MS/MS JF - Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology N2 - In order to assess the individual trace element status of humans for either medical or scientific purposes, amongst others, blood serum levels are determined. Furthermore, animal models are used to study interactions of trace elements. Most published methods require larger amounts (500-1000 mu L) of serum to achieve a reliable determination of multiple trace elements. However, oftentimes, these amounts of serum cannot be dedicated to a single analysis and the amount available for TE-determination is much lower. Therefore, a published ICP-MS/MS method for trace element determination in serum was miniaturized, optimized and validated for the measurement of Mn, Fe, Cu Zn, I and Se in as little as 50 mu L of human and murine serum and is presented in this work. For validation, recoveries of multiple LOTs and levels from commercially available human reference serum samples were determined, infra- and inter-day variations were assessed and limits of detection and quantification determined. It is shown, that the method is capable of giving accurate and reproducible results for all six elements within the relevant concentration ranges for samples from humans living in central Europe as well as from laboratory mice. As a highlight, the achieved limits of detection and quantification for Mn were found to be at 0.02 mu g/L serum and 0.05 mu g/L serum, respectively, while using an alkaline diluent for the parallel determination of iodine. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2019.04.015 SN - 0946-672X VL - 54 SP - 221 EP - 225 PB - Elsevier CY - München ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reschke, Stefan A1 - Duffus, Benjamin R. A1 - Schrapers, Peer A1 - Mebs, Stefan A1 - Teutloff, Christian A1 - Dau, Holger A1 - Haumann, Michael A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - Identification of YdhV as the First Molybdoenzyme Binding a Bis-Mo-MPT Cofactor in Escherichia coli JF - Biochemistry N2 - The oxidoreductase YdhV in Escherichia coli has been predicted to belong to the family of molybdenum/tungsten cofactor (Moco/Wco)-containing enzymes. In this study, we characterized the YdhV protein in detail, which shares amino acid sequence homology with a tungsten-containing benzoyl-CoA reductase binding the bis-W-MPT (for metal-binding pterin) cofactor. The cofactor was identified to be of a bis-Mo-MPT type with no guanine nucleotides present, which represents a form of Moco that has not been found previously in any molybdoenzyme. Our studies showed that YdhV has a preference for bis-Mo-MPT over bis-W-MPT to be inserted into the enzyme. In-depth characterization of YdhV by X-ray absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies revealed that the bis-Mo-MPT cofactor in YdhV is redox active. The bis-Mo-MPT and bis-W-MPT cofactors include metal centers that bind the four sulfurs from the two dithiolene groups in addition to a cysteine and likely a sulfido ligand. The unexpected presence of a bis-Mo-MPT cofactor opens an additional route for cofactor biosynthesis in E. coli and expands the canon of the structurally highly versatile molybdenum and tungsten cofactors. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00078 SN - 0006-2960 VL - 58 IS - 17 SP - 2228 EP - 2242 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heim, Ramona J. A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Kamp, Johannes A1 - Thomas, Alexander A1 - Darman, Galina F. A1 - Smirenski, Sergei M. A1 - Heim, Wieland T1 - Post-burn and long-term fire effects on plants and birds in floodplain wetlands of the Russian Far East JF - Biodiversity and conservation N2 - Wildfires affect biodiversity at multiple levels. While vegetation is directly changed by fire events, animals are often indirectly affected through changes in habitat and food availability. Globally, fire frequency and the extent of fires are predicted to increase in the future. The impact of fire on the biodiversity of temperate wetlands has gained little attention so far. We compared species richness and abundance of plants and birds in burnt and unburnt areas in the Amur floodplain/Russian Far East in the year of fire and 1 year after. We also analysed vegetation recovery in relation to time since fire over a period of 18 years. Plant species richness was higher in burnt compared to unburnt plots in the year of the fire, but not in the year after. This suggests that fire has a positive short-term effect on plant diversity. Bird species richness and abundance were lower on burnt compared to unburnt plots in the year of the fire, but not in the year after. Over a period of 18 years, high fire frequency led to an increase in herb cover and a decrease in grass cover. We show that the effects on biodiversity are taxon- and species-specific. Fire management strategies in temperate wetlands should consider fire frequency as a key driving force of vegetation structure, with carry-over effects on higher trophic levels. Designing fire refuges, i.e., areas that do not burn annually, might locally be necessary to maintain high species richness. KW - Disturbance KW - Bird species richness KW - Vegetation structure KW - Fire frequency KW - Amur River Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01746-3 SN - 0960-3115 SN - 1572-9710 VL - 28 IS - 6 SP - 1611 EP - 1628 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herppich, Werner B. A1 - Martin, Craig E. A1 - Tötzke, Christian A1 - Manke, Ingo A1 - Kardjilov, Nikolay T1 - External water transport is more important than vascular transport in the extreme atmospheric epiphyte Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss) JF - Plant, cell & environment : cell physiology, whole-plant physiology, community physiology N2 - Most epiphytic bromeliads, especially those in the genus Tillandsia, lack functional roots and rely on the absorption of water and nutrients by large, multicellular trichomes on the epidermal surfaces of leaves and stems. Another important function of these structures is the spread of water over the epidermal surface by capillary action between trichome "wings" and epidermal surface. Although critical for the ultimate absorption by these plants, understanding of this function of trichomes is primarily based on light microscope observations. To better understand this phenomenon, the distribution of water was followed by its attenuation of cold neutrons following application of H2O to the cut end of Tillandsia usneoides shoots. Experiments confirmed the spread of added water on the external surfaces of this "atmospheric" epiphyte. In a morphologically and physiologically similar plant lacking epidermal trichomes, water added to the cut end of a shoot clearly moved via its internal xylem and not on its epidermis. Thus, in T. usneoides, water moves primarily by capillarity among the overlapping trichomes forming a dense indumentum on shoot surfaces, while internal vascular water movement is less likely. T. usneoides, occupying xeric microhabitats, benefits from reduction of water losses by low-shoot xylem hydraulic conductivities. KW - bromeliads KW - capillarity KW - cold neutrons KW - epidermis KW - epiphytes KW - trichomes KW - water movement Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13496 SN - 0140-7791 SN - 1365-3040 VL - 42 IS - 5 SP - 1645 EP - 1656 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yan, Wenhao A1 - Chen, Dijun A1 - Schumacher, Julia A1 - Durantini, Diego A1 - Engelhorn, Julia A1 - Chen, Ming A1 - Carles, Cristel C. A1 - Kaufmann, Kerstin T1 - Dynamic control of enhancer activity drives stage-specific gene expression during flower morphogenesis JF - Nature Communications N2 - Enhancers are critical for developmental stage-specific gene expression, but their dynamic regulation in plants remains poorly understood. Here we compare genome-wide localization of H3K27ac, chromatin accessibility and transcriptomic changes during flower development in Arabidopsis. H3K27ac prevalently marks promoter-proximal regions, suggesting that H3K27ac is not a hallmark for enhancers in Arabidopsis. We provide computational and experimental evidence to confirm that distal DNase. hypersensitive sites are predictive of enhancers. The predicted enhancers are highly stage-specific across flower development, significantly associated with SNPs for flowering-related phenotypes, and conserved across crucifer species. Through the integration of genome-wide transcription factor (TF) binding datasets, we find that floral master regulators and stage-specific TFs are largely enriched at developmentally dynamic enhancers. Finally, we show that enhancer clusters and intronic enhancers significantly associate with stage-specific gene regulation by floral master TFs. Our study provides insights into the functional flexibility of enhancers during plant development, as well as hints to annotate plant enhancers. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09513-2 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 10 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Guislain, Alexis A1 - Beisner, Beatrix E. A1 - Köhler, Jan T1 - Variation in species light acquisition traits under fluctuating light regimes BT - implications for non-equilibrium coexistence JF - Oikos N2 - Resource distribution heterogeneity offers niche opportunities for species with different functional traits to develop and potentially coexist. Available light (photosynthetically active radiation or PAR) for suspended algae (phytoplankton) may fluctuate greatly over time and space. Species-specific light acquisition traits capture important aspects of the ecophysiology of phytoplankton and characterize species growth at either limiting or saturating daily PAR supply. Efforts have been made to explain phytoplankton coexistence using species-specific light acquisition traits under constant light conditions, but not under fluctuating light regimes that should facilitate non-equilibrium coexistence. In the well-mixed, hypertrophic Lake TaiHu (China), we incubated the phytoplankton community in bottles placed either at fixed depths or moved vertically through the water column to mimic vertical mixing. Incubations at constant depths received only the diurnal changes in light, while the moving bottles received rapidly fluctuating light. Species-specific light acquisition traits of dominant cyanobacteria (Anabaena flos-aquae, Microcystis spp.) and diatom (Aulacoseira granulata, Cyclotella pseudostelligera) species were characterized from their growth-light relationships that could explain relative biomasses along the daily PAR gradient under both constant and fluctuating light. Our study demonstrates the importance of interspecific differences in affinities to limiting and saturating light for the coexistence of phytoplankton species in spatially heterogeneous light conditions. Furthermore, we observed strong intraspecific differences in light acquisition traits between incubation under constant and fluctuating light - leading to the reversal of light utilization strategies of species. This increased the niche space for acclimated species, precluding competitive exclusion. These observations could enhance our understanding of the mechanisms behind the Paradox of the Plankton. KW - niche partitioning KW - phytoplankton photoacclimation Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.05297 SN - 0030-1299 SN - 1600-0706 VL - 128 IS - 5 SP - 716 EP - 728 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de la Cruz, Jorge Gonzalez A1 - Machens, Fabian A1 - Messerschmidt, Katrin A1 - Bar-Even, Arren T1 - Core Catalysis of the Reductive Glycine Pathway Demonstrated in Yeast JF - ACS synthetic biology N2 - One-carbon (C1) compounds are attractive microbial feedstocks as they can be efficiently produced from widely available resources. Formate, in particular, represents a promising growth substrate, as it can be generated from electrochemical reduction of CO2 and fed to microorganisms in a soluble form. We previously identified the synthetic reductive glycine pathway as the most efficient route for aerobic growth on formate. We further demonstrated pathway activity in Escherichia coli after expression of both native and foreign genes. Here, we explore whether the reductive glycine pathway could be established in a model microorganism using only native enzymes. We used the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as host and show that overexpression of only endogenous enzymes enables glycine biosynthesis from formate and CO2 in a strain that is otherwise auxotrophic for glycine. We find the pathway to be highly active in this host, where 0.125 mM formate is sufficient to support growth. Notably, the formate-dependent growth rate of the engineered S. cerevisiae strain remained roughly constant over a very wide range of formate concentrations, 1-500 mM, indicating both high affinity for formate use and high tolerance toward elevated concentration of this C1 feedstock. Our results, as well the availability of endogenous NAD-dependent formate dehydrogenase, indicate that yeast might be an especially suitable host for engineering growth on formate. KW - metabolic engineering KW - synthetic biology KW - one-carbon metabolism KW - carbon labeling KW - tetrahydrofolate KW - glycine cleavage system Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00464 SN - 2161-5063 VL - 8 IS - 5 SP - 911 EP - 917 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Altintas, Zeynep A1 - Takiden, Aref A1 - Utesch, Tillmann A1 - Mroginski, Maria A. A1 - Schmid, Bianca A1 - Scheller, Frieder W. A1 - Süssmuth, Roderich D. T1 - Integrated approaches toward high-affinity artificial protein binders obtained via computationally simulated epitopes for protein recognition JF - Advanced functional materials N2 - Widely used diagnostic tools make use of antibodies recognizing targeted molecules, but additional techniques are required in order to alleviate the disadvantages of antibodies. Herein, molecular dynamic calculations are performed for the design of high affinity artificial protein binding surfaces for the recognition of neuron specific enolase (NSE), a known cancer biomarker. Computational simulations are employed to identify particularly stabile secondary structure elements. These epitopes are used for the subsequent molecular imprinting, where surface imprinting approach is applied. The molecular imprints generated with the calculated epitopes of greater stability (Cys-Ep1) show better binding properties than those of lower stability (Cys-Ep5). The average binding strength of imprints created with stabile epitopes is found to be around twofold and fourfold higher for the NSE derived peptide and NSE protein, respectively. The recognition of NSE is investigated in a wide concentration range, where high sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD) = 0.5 ng mL(-1)) and affinity (dissociation constant (K-d) = 5.3 x 10(-11)m) are achieved using Cys-Ep1 imprints reflecting the stable structure of the template molecules. This integrated approach employing stability calculations for the identification of stabile epitopes is expected to have a major impact on the future development of high affinity protein capturing binders. KW - artificial protein binders KW - cancer markers KW - computationally simulated epitopes KW - molecular imprinting KW - protein recognition Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201807332 SN - 1616-301X SN - 1616-3028 VL - 29 IS - 15 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schieferdecker, Anne A1 - Wendler, Petra T1 - Structural Mapping of Missense Mutations in the Pex1/Pex6 Complex JF - International journal of molecular sciences N2 - Peroxisome biogenesis disorders (PBDs) are nontreatable hereditary diseases with a broad range of severity. Approximately 65% of patients are affected by mutations in the peroxins Pex1 and Pex6. The proteins form the heteromeric Pex1/Pex6 complex, which is important for protein import into peroxisomes. To date, no structural data are available for this AAA+ ATPase complex. However, a wealth of information can be transferred from low-resolution structures of the yeast scPex1/scPex6 complex and homologous, well-characterized AAA+ ATPases. We review the abundant records of missense mutations described in PBD patients with the aim to classify and rationalize them by mapping them onto a homology model of the human Pex1/Pex6 complex. Several mutations concern functionally conserved residues that are implied in ATP hydrolysis and substrate processing. Contrary to fold destabilizing mutations, patients suffering from function-impairing mutations may not benefit from stabilizing agents, which have been reported as potential therapeutics for PBD patients. KW - Zellweger syndrome spectrum disorder (ZSSD) KW - Zellweger KW - structure KW - Pex1 KW - Pex6 KW - mutation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20153756 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 20 IS - 15 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ryser, Remo A1 - Häussler, Johanna A1 - Stark, Markus A1 - Brose, Ulrich A1 - Rall, Björn C. A1 - Guill, Christian T1 - The biggest losers: habitat isolation deconsructs complex food webs from top to bottom JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - Habitat fragmentation threatens global biodiversity. To date, there is only limited understanding of how the different aspects of habitat fragmentation (habitat loss, number of fragments and isolation) affect species diversity within complex ecological networks such as food webs. Here, we present a dynamic and spatially explicit food web model which integrates complex food web dynamics at the local scale and species-specific dispersal dynamics at the landscape scale, allowing us to study the interplay of local and spatial processes in metacommunities. We here explore how the number of habitat patches, i.e. the number of fragments, and an increase of habitat isolation affect the species diversity patterns of complex food webs (alpha-,beta-,gamma-, diversities). We specifically test whether there is a trophic dependency in the effect of these two factors on species diversity. In our model, habitat isolation is the main driver causing species loss and diversity decline. Our results emphasize that large-bodied consumer species at high trophic positions go extinct faster than smaller species at lower trophic levels, despite being superior dispersers that connect fragmented landscapes better. We attribute the loss of top species to a combined effect of higher biomass loss during dispersal with increasing habitat isolation in general, and the associated energy limitation in highly fragmented landscapes, preventing higher trophic levels to persist. To maintain trophic-complex and species-rich communities calls for effective conservation planning which considers the interdependence of trophic and spatial dynamics as well as the spatial context of a landscape and its energy availability. KW - food webs KW - allometry KW - bioenergetic model KW - metacommunity dynamics KW - dispersal mortality KW - landscape structure Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1177 SN - 0962-8452 SN - 1471-2954 VL - 286 IS - 1908 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Busch, Verena A1 - Klaus, Valentin Helmut A1 - Schaefer, Deborah A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Chiste, Melanie A1 - Mody, Karsten A1 - Blüthgen, Nico A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Kleinebecker, Till T1 - Will I stay or will I go? Plant species-specific response and tolerance to high land-use intensity in temperate grassland ecosystems JF - Journal of vegetation science KW - community composition KW - ecological strategies KW - Ellenberg indicator values KW - land-use intensity niche KW - plant functional traits KW - species-specific niche breadth KW - species-specific niche optima KW - temperate grasslands KW - vegetation dynamics Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12749 SN - 1100-9233 SN - 1654-1103 VL - 30 IS - 4 SP - 674 EP - 686 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andrés-Delgado, Laura A1 - Ernst, Alexander A1 - Galardi-Castilla, María A1 - Bazaga, David A1 - Peralta, Marina A1 - Münch, Juliane A1 - Gonzalez-Rosa, Juan M. A1 - Marques, Inês A1 - Tessadori, Federico A1 - de la Pompa, José Luis A1 - Vermot, Julien A1 - Mercader, Nadia T1 - Actin dynamics and the Bmp pathway drive apical extrusion of proepicardial cells JF - Development : Company of Biologists N2 - The epicardium, the outer mesothelial layer enclosing the myocardium, plays key roles in heart development and regeneration. During embryogenesis, the epicardium arises from the proepicardium (PE), a cell cluster that appears in the dorsal pericardium (DP) close to the venous pole of the heart. Little is known about how the PE emerges from the pericardial mesothelium. Using a zebrafish model and a combination of genetic tools, pharmacological agents and quantitative in vivo imaging, we reveal that a coordinated collective movement of DP cells drives PE formation. We found that Bmp signaling and the actomyosin cytoskeleton promote constriction of the DP, which enables PE cells to extrude apically. We provide evidence that cell extrusion, which has been described in the elimination of unfit cells from epithelia and the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells, is also a mechanism for PE cells to exit an organized mesothelium and fulfil their developmental fate to form a new tissue layer, the epicardium. KW - Actomyosin KW - Bmp KW - Cell extrusion KW - Proepicardium KW - Zebrafish KW - Heart development Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.174961 SN - 0950-1991 SN - 1477-9129 VL - 146 IS - 13 PB - The Company of Biologists Ltd CY - Cambridge ER - TY - GEN A1 - Dunsing, Valentin A1 - Irmscher, Tobias A1 - Barbirz, Stefanie A1 - Chiantia, Salvatore T1 - Microviscosity of bacterial biofilm matrix characterized by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and single particle tracking T2 - European biophysics journal : with biophysics letters ; an international journal of biophysics Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-019-01373-4 SN - 0175-7571 SN - 1432-1017 VL - 48 SP - S115 EP - S115 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Luckner, Madlen A1 - Dunsing, Valentin A1 - Drüke, Markus A1 - Zuehlke, B. A1 - Petazzi, Roberto Arturo A1 - Chiantia, Salvatore A1 - Herrmann, A. T1 - Quantifying protein oligomerization directly in living cells BT - a systematic comparison of fluorescent proteins and application to Influenza A virus infection T2 - European biophysics journal : with biophysics letters ; an international journal of biophysics Y1 - 2019 SN - 0175-7571 SN - 1432-1017 VL - 48 SP - S183 EP - S183 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Moga, A. A1 - Robinson, T. A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - Towards reconstituting a biosynthetic pathway within compartmentalized GUVs T2 - European biophysics journal : with biophysics letters ; an international journal of biophysics Y1 - 2019 SN - 0175-7571 SN - 1432-1017 VL - 48 SP - S218 EP - S218 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chaturvedi, Neha A1 - Mehrotra, Bagish A1 - Kumari, Sangeeta A1 - Gupta, Saurabh A1 - Subramanya, Hosahalli A1 - Saberwal, Gayatri T1 - Some data quality issues at ClinicalTrials.gov JF - Trials KW - ClinicalTrials KW - gov KW - Drugs KW - Biologicals KW - Clinical trial KW - Principal Investigator KW - Data quality KW - Database errors Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3408-2 SN - 1745-6215 VL - 20 PB - BMC CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brechun, Katherine E. A1 - Zhen, Danlin A1 - Jaikaran, Anna A1 - Borisenko, Vitali A1 - Kumauchi, Masato A1 - Hoff, Wouter D. A1 - Arndt, Katja Maren A1 - Woolley, Andrew G T1 - Detection of Incorporation of p-Coumaric Acid into Photoactive Yellow Protein Variants in Vivo JF - Biochemistry N2 - We report the design and characterization of photoactive yellow protein (PYP)-blue fluorescent protein (mTagBFP) fusion constructs that permit the direct assay of reconstitution and function of the PYP domain. These constructs allow for in vivo testing of co-expression systems for enzymatic production of the p-coumaric acid-based PYP chromophore, via the action of tyrosine ammonia lyase and p-coumaroyl-CoA ligase (pCL or 4CL). We find that different 4CL enzymes can function to reconstitute PYP, including 4CL from Arabidopsis thaliana that can produce similar to 100% holo-PYP protein under optimal conditions. mTagBFP fusion constructs additionally enable rapid analysis of effects of mutations on PYP photocycles. We use this mTagBFP fusion strategy to demonstrate in vivo reconstitution of several PYP-based optogenetic tools in Escherichia coli via a biosynthesized chromophore, an important step for the use of these optogenetic tools in vivo in diverse hosts. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00279 SN - 0006-2960 VL - 58 IS - 23 SP - 2682 EP - 2694 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Volkert, Dorothee A1 - Beck, Anne Marie A1 - Cederholm, Tommy A1 - Cereda, Emanuele A1 - Cruz-Jentoft, Alfonso J. A1 - Goisser, Sabine A1 - de Groot, Lisette A1 - Grosshauser, Franz A1 - Kiesswetter, Eva A1 - Norman, Kristina A1 - Pourhassan, Maryam A1 - Reinders, Ilse A1 - Roberts, Helen C. A1 - Rolland, Yves A1 - Schneider, Stéphane M. A1 - Sieber, Cornel A1 - Thiem, Ulrich A1 - Visser, Marjolein A1 - Wijnhoven, Hanneke A1 - Wirth, Rainer T1 - Management of malnutrition in older patients BT - Current approaches, evidence and open questions JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine : open access journal N2 - Malnutrition is widespread in older people and represents a major geriatric syndrome with multifactorial etiology and severe consequences for health outcomes and quality of life. The aim of the present paper is to describe current approaches and evidence regarding malnutrition treatment and to highlight relevant knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Recently published guidelines of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) provide a summary of the available evidence and highlight the wide range of different measures that can be taken—from the identification and elimination of potential causes to enteral and parenteral nutrition—depending on the patient’s abilities and needs. However, more than half of the recommendations therein are based on expert consensus because of a lack of evidence, and only three are concern patient-centred outcomes. Future research should further clarify the etiology of malnutrition and identify the most relevant causes in order to prevent malnutrition. Based on limited and partly conflicting evidence and the limitations of existing studies, it remains unclear which interventions are most effective in which patient groups, and if specific situations, diseases or etiologies of malnutrition require specific approaches. Patient-relevant outcomes such as functionality and quality of life need more attention, and research methodology should be harmonised to allow for the comparability of studies. KW - Geriatric patients KW - older persons KW - malnutrition KW - therapy KW - interventions Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8070974 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 8 IS - 7 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - GEN A1 - Arnold, Patrick T1 - The origin of morphological integration and modularity in the Mammalian Neck T2 - Journal of morphology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21003 SN - 0362-2525 SN - 1097-4687 VL - 280 SP - S13 EP - S13 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fages, Antoine A1 - Hanghoj, Kristian A1 - Khan, Naveed A1 - Gaunitz, Charleen A1 - Seguin-Orlando, Andaine A1 - Leonardi, Michela A1 - Constantz, Christian McCrory A1 - Gamba, Cristina A1 - Al-Rasheid, Khaled A. S. A1 - Albizuri, Silvia A1 - Alfarhan, Ahmed H. A1 - Allentoft, Morten A1 - Alquraishi, Saleh A1 - Anthony, David A1 - Baimukhanov, Nurbol A1 - Barrett, James H. A1 - Bayarsaikhan, Jamsranjav A1 - Benecke, Norbert A1 - Bernaldez-Sanchez, Eloisa A1 - Berrocal-Rangel, Luis A1 - Biglari, Fereidoun A1 - Boessenkool, Sanne A1 - Boldgiv, Bazartseren A1 - Brem, Gottfried A1 - Brown, Dorcas A1 - Burger, Joachim A1 - Crubezy, Eric A1 - Daugnora, Linas A1 - Davoudi, Hossein A1 - Damgaard, Peter de Barros A1 - de Chorro y de Villa-Ceballos, Maria de los Angeles A1 - Deschler-Erb, Sabine A1 - Detry, Cleia A1 - Dill, Nadine A1 - Oom, Maria do Mar A1 - Dohr, Anna A1 - Ellingvag, Sturla A1 - Erdenebaatar, Diimaajav A1 - Fathi, Homa A1 - Felkel, Sabine A1 - Fernandez-Rodriguez, Carlos A1 - Garcia-Vinas, Esteban A1 - Germonpre, Mietje A1 - Granado, Jose D. A1 - Hallsson, Jon H. A1 - Hemmer, Helmut A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Kasparov, Aleksei A1 - Khasanov, Mutalib A1 - Khazaeli, Roya A1 - Kosintsev, Pavel A1 - Kristiansen, Kristian A1 - Kubatbek, Tabaldiev A1 - Kuderna, Lukas A1 - Kuznetsov, Pavel A1 - Laleh, Haeedeh A1 - Leonard, Jennifer A. A1 - Lhuillier, Johanna A1 - von Lettow-Vorbeck, Corina Liesau A1 - Logvin, Andrey A1 - Lougas, Lembi A1 - Ludwig, Arne A1 - Luis, Cristina A1 - Arruda, Ana Margarida A1 - Marques-Bonet, Tomas A1 - Silva, Raquel Matoso A1 - Merz, Victor A1 - Mijiddorj, Enkhbayar A1 - Miller, Bryan K. A1 - Monchalov, Oleg A1 - Mohaseb, Fatemeh A. A1 - Morales, Arturo A1 - Nieto-Espinet, Ariadna A1 - Nistelberger, Heidi A1 - Onar, Vedat A1 - Palsdottir, Albina H. A1 - Pitulko, Vladimir A1 - Pitskhelauri, Konstantin A1 - Pruvost, Melanie A1 - Sikanjic, Petra Rajic A1 - Papesa, Anita Rapan A1 - Roslyakova, Natalia A1 - Sardari, Alireza A1 - Sauer, Eberhard A1 - Schafberg, Renate A1 - Scheu, Amelie A1 - Schibler, Jorg A1 - Schlumbaum, Angela A1 - Serrand, Nathalie A1 - Serres-Armero, Aitor A1 - Shapiro, Beth A1 - Seno, Shiva Sheikhi A1 - Shevnina, Irina A1 - Shidrang, Sonia A1 - Southon, John A1 - Star, Bastiaan A1 - Sykes, Naomi A1 - Taheri, Kamal A1 - Taylor, William A1 - Teegen, Wolf-Rudiger A1 - Vukicevic, Tajana Trbojevic A1 - Trixl, Simon A1 - Tumen, Dashzeveg A1 - Undrakhbold, Sainbileg A1 - Usmanova, Emma A1 - Vahdati, Ali A1 - Valenzuela-Lamas, Silvia A1 - Viegas, Catarina A1 - Wallner, Barbara A1 - Weinstock, Jaco A1 - Zaibert, Victor A1 - Clavel, Benoit A1 - Lepetz, Sebastien A1 - Mashkour, Marjan A1 - Helgason, Agnar A1 - Stefansson, Kari A1 - Barrey, Eric A1 - Willerslev, Eske A1 - Outram, Alan K. A1 - Librado, Pablo A1 - Orlando, Ludovic T1 - Tracking five millennia of horse management with extensive ancient genome time series JF - Cell N2 - Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expansion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date, including genome-scale data from 149 ancient animals and 129 ancient genomes (>= 1-fold coverage), 87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modem legacy of past equestrian civilisations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range (Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed significantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia. Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN "speed gene," only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modem breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically than the previous millennia of human management. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.03.049 SN - 0092-8674 SN - 1097-4172 VL - 177 IS - 6 SP - 1419 EP - 1435 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Frommhold, Martin A1 - Heim, Arend A1 - Barabanov, Mikhail A1 - Maier, Franziska A1 - Mühle, Ralf-Udo A1 - Smirenski, Sergei M. A1 - Heim, Wieland T1 - Breeding habitat and nest-site selection by an obligatory "nest-cleptoparasite", the Amur Falcon Falco amurensis JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - The selection of a nest site is crucial for successful reproduction of birds. Animals which re-use or occupy nest sites constructed by other species often have limited choice. Little is known about the criteria of nest-stealing species to choose suitable nesting sites and habitats. Here, we analyze breeding-site selection of an obligatory "nest-cleptoparasite", the Amur Falcon Falco amurensis. We collected data on nest sites at Muraviovka Park in the Russian Far East, where the species breeds exclusively in nests of the Eurasian Magpie Pica pica. We sampled 117 Eurasian Magpie nests, 38 of which were occupied by Amur Falcons. Nest-specific variables were assessed, and a recently developed habitat classification map was used to derive landscape metrics. We found that Amur Falcons chose a wide range of nesting sites, but significantly preferred nests with a domed roof. Breeding pairs of Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo and Eurasian Magpie were often found to breed near the nest in about the same distance as neighboring Amur Falcon pairs. Additionally, the occurrence of the species was positively associated with bare soil cover, forest cover, and shrub patches within their home range and negatively with the distance to wetlands. Areas of wetlands and fallow land might be used for foraging since Amur Falcons mostly depend on an insect diet. Additionally, we found that rarely burned habitats were preferred. Overall, the effect of landscape variables on the choice of actual nest sites appeared to be rather small. We used different classification methods to predict the probability of occurrence, of which the Random forest method showed the highest accuracy. The areas determined as suitable habitat showed a high concordance with the actual nest locations. We conclude that Amur Falcons prefer to occupy newly built (domed) nests to ensure high nest quality, as well as nests surrounded by available feeding habitats. KW - cleptoparasitism KW - fire KW - habitat use KW - machine learning KW - magpie KW - nest-site selection KW - random forest Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5878 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 9 IS - 24 SP - 14430 EP - 14441 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Barchewitz, Tino A1 - Guljamow, Arthur A1 - Meißner, Sven A1 - Timm, Stefan A1 - Henneberg, Manja A1 - Baumann, Otto A1 - Hagemann, Martin A1 - Dittmann, Elke T1 - Non-canonical localization of RubisCO under high-light conditions in the toxic cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa PCC7806 JF - Environmental microbiology N2 - The frequent production of the hepatotoxin microcystin (MC) and its impact on the lifestyle of bloom-forming cyanobacteria are poorly understood. Here, we report that MC interferes with the assembly and the subcellular localization of RubisCO, in Microcystis aeruginosa PCC7806. Immunofluorescence, electron microscopic and cellular fractionation studies revealed a pronounced heterogeneity in the subcellular localization of RubisCO. At high cell density, RubisCO particles are largely separate from carboxysomes in M. aeruginosa and relocate to the cytoplasmic membrane under high-light conditions. We hypothesize that the binding of MC to RubisCO promotes its membrane association and enables an extreme versatility of the enzyme. Steady-state levels of the RubisCO CO2 fixation product 3-phosphoglycerate are significantly higher in the MC-producing wild type. We also detected noticeable amounts of the RubisCO oxygenase reaction product secreted into the medium that may support the mutual interaction of M. aeruginosa with its heterotrophic microbial community. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14837 SN - 1462-2912 SN - 1462-2920 VL - 21 IS - 12 SP - 4836 EP - 4851 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hornych, Ondrej A1 - Ekrt, Libor A1 - Riedel, Felix A1 - Koutecky, Petr A1 - Košnar, Jiří T1 - Asymmetric hybridization in Central European populations of the Dryopteris carthusiana group JF - America Journal of Botany N2 - Premise Hybridization is a key process in plant speciation. Despite its importance, there is no detailed study of hybridization rates in fern populations. A proper estimate of hybridization rates is needed to understand factors regulating hybridization. Methods We studied hybridization in the European Dryopteris carthusiana group, represented by one diploid and two tetraploid species and their hybrids. We sampled 100 individuals per population in 40 mixed populations of the D. carthusiana group across Europe. All plants were identified by measuring genome size (DAPI staining) using flow cytometry. To determine the maternal parentage of hybrids, we sequenced the chloroplast region trnL-trnF of all taxa involved. Results We found hybrids in 85% of populations. Triploid D. xambroseae occurred in every population that included both parent species and is most abundant when the parent species are equally abundant. By contrast, tetraploid D. xdeweveri was rare (15 individuals total) and triploid D. xsarvelae was absent. The parentage of hybrid taxa is asymmetric. Despite expectations from previous studies, tetraploid D. dilatata is the predominant male parent of its triploid hybrid. Conclusions This is a thorough investigation of hybridization rates in natural populations of ferns. Hybridization rates differ greatly even among closely related fern taxa. In contrast to angiosperms, our data suggest that hybridization rates are highest in balanced parent populations and support the notion that some ferns possess very weak barriers to hybridization. Our results from sequencing cpDNA challenge established notions about the correlation of ploidy level and mating tendencies. KW - antheridiogens KW - Dryopteridaceae KW - ferns KW - flow cytometry KW - hybridization rate KW - interspecific hybridization KW - polyploidy KW - reproductive isolation KW - speciation KW - trnL-trnF Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1369 SN - 0002-9122 SN - 1537-2197 VL - 106 IS - 11 SP - 1477 EP - 1486 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eilers, Elisabeth Johanna A1 - Heger, Tina T1 - Past Competition Affects Offspring Foliar Terpenoid Concentrations, Seed Traits, and Fitness in the Invasive Forb Erodium cicutarium (Geraniaceae) JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - (1) Environmental conditions experienced in the past may lead to intraspecific differences in ecological and chemical traits of plants, which likely affect future responses to altered or new environments. Whether competition by neighbors is such a trait-shaping factor is not yet well-known. We aimed to understand how the level of ancestral plant competition affects traits related to plant fitness and resource allocation, reproduction, and (phyto-)toxin accumulation in offspring, and whether a potential differentiation in these traits can be found in different geographic origins of which one belongs to the native and one to the invaded range. (2) We compared differentiation of the following traits in offspring plants of multiple populations in Erodium cicutarium (Geraniaceae): biomass, seed production, seed traits related to dispersal and germination, and concentrations of foliar mono- and sesquiterpenes. We tested the allelopatic potential of aqueous extracts of the same E. cicutarium plants on seeds of five different plant families. (3) In plants originating from populations that experienced high levels of competition, we found twice as high monoterpene concentrations. These plants also produced more biomass and a higher proportion of ripe to unripe seeds until harvesting. Seeds originating from high competition sites were shorter. Aqueous E. cicutarium leaf extracts with high terpenoid content reduced radicle length of Zea mays and radicle and hypocotyl length of E. cicutarium seedlings. (4) The results of this study provide first evidence that the surrounding vegetation may shape chemo-ecological plant traits that may be fundamental for competitive ability. Our study calls for more research testing whether competition experienced in the native range may lead to an enhanced capability of plants to establish populations and spread in a new range. KW - resource allocation KW - specialized metabolites KW - gas chromatography-mass spectrometry KW - seed morphology KW - plant interactions KW - eco-evolutionary experience Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00392 SN - 2296-701X VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Braune, Steffen A1 - Latour, Robert A. A1 - Reinthaler, Markus A1 - Landmesser, Ulf A1 - Lendlein, Andreas A1 - Jung, Friedrich T1 - In Vitro Thrombogenicity Testing of Biomaterials JF - Advanced healthcare materials N2 - The short- and long-term thrombogenicity of implant materials is still unpredictable, which is a significant challenge for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. A knowledge-based approach for implementing biofunctions in materials requires a detailed understanding of the medical device in the biological system. In particular, the interplay between material and blood components/cells as well as standardized and commonly acknowledged in vitro test methods allowing a reproducible categorization of the material thrombogenicity requires further attention. Here, the status of in vitro thrombogenicity testing methods for biomaterials is reviewed, particularly taking in view the preparation of test materials and references, the selection and characterization of donors and blood samples, the prerequisites for reproducible approaches and applied test systems. Recent joint approaches in finding common standards for a reproducible testing are summarized and perspectives for a more disease oriented in vitro thrombogenicity testing are discussed. KW - biomaterials KW - blood tests KW - implants KW - in vitro KW - thrombogenicity Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.201900527 SN - 2192-2640 SN - 2192-2659 VL - 8 IS - 21 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoffmann, Stefan A. A1 - Hao, Nan A1 - Shearwin, Keith E. A1 - Arndt, Katja Maren T1 - Characterizing transcriptional interference between converging genes in bacteria JF - ACS synthetic biology N2 - Antisense transcription is common in naturally occurring genomes and is increasingly being used in synthetic genetic circuitry as a tool for gene expression control. Mutual influence on the expression of convergent genes can be mediated by antisense RNA effects and by transcriptional interference (TI). We aimed to quantitatively characterize long-range TI between convergent genes with untranslated intergenic spacers of increasing length. After controlling for antisense RNA-mediated effects, which contributed about half of the observed total expression inhibition, the TI effect was modeled. To achieve model convergence, RNA polymerase processivity and collision resistance were assumed to be modulated by ribosome trailing. The spontaneous transcription termination rate in regions of untranslated DNA was experimentally determined. Our modeling suggests that an elongating RNA polymerase with a trailing ribosome is about 13 times more likely to resume transcription than an opposing RNA polymerase without a trailing ribosome, upon head-on collision of the two. KW - gene regulation KW - antisense transcription KW - transcriptional interference KW - mathematical modeling KW - Escherichia coli Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00477 SN - 2161-5063 VL - 8 IS - 3 SP - 466 EP - 473 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Batsios, Petros A1 - Ishikawa-Ankerhold, Hellen Christina A1 - Roth, Heike A1 - Schleicher, Michael A1 - Wong, Catherine C. L. A1 - Müller-Taubenberger, Annette T1 - Ate1-mediated posttranslational arginylation affects substrate adhesion and cell migration in Dictyostelium discoideum JF - Molecular biology of the cell : the official publication of the American Society for Cell Biology N2 - The highly conserved enzyme arginyl-tRNA-protein transferase (Ate1) mediates arginylation, a posttranslational modification that is only incompletely understood at its molecular level. To investigate whether arginylation affects actin-dependent processes in a simple model organism, Dictyostelium discoideum, we knocked out the gene encoding Ate1 and characterized the phenotype of ate1-null cells. Visualization of actin cytoskeleton dynamics by live-cell microscopy indicated significant changes in comparison to wild-type cells. Ate1-null cells were almost completely lacking focal actin adhesion sites at the substrate-attached surface and were only weakly adhesive. In two-dimensional chemotaxis assays toward folate or cAMP, the motility of ate1-null cells was increased. However, in three-dimensional chemotaxis involving more confined conditions, the motility of ate1-null cells was significantly reduced. Live-cell imaging showed that GFP-tagged Ate1 rapidly relocates to sites of newly formed actin-rich protrusions. By mass spectrometric analysis, we identified four arginylation sites in the most abundant actin isoform of Dictyostelium, in addition to arginylation sites in other actin isoforms and several actin-binding proteins. In vitro polymerization assays with actin purified from ate1-null cells revealed a diminished polymerization capacity in comparison to wild-type actin. Our data indicate that arginylation plays a crucial role in the regulation of cytoskeletal activities. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E18-02-0132 SN - 1059-1524 SN - 1939-4586 VL - 30 IS - 4 SP - 453 EP - 466 PB - American Society for Cell Biology CY - Bethesda ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lepro, Valentino A1 - Nagel, Oliver A1 - Klumpp, Stefan A1 - Lipowsky, Reinhard A1 - Beta, Carsten T1 - Cooperative Transport by Amoeboid Cells BT - a Cellular Tug-of-War T2 - Biophysical journal Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2018.11.682 SN - 0006-3495 SN - 1542-0086 VL - 116 IS - 3 SP - 122A EP - 122A PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - GEN A1 - Sowemimo, Oluwakemi A1 - Borcherds, Wade A1 - Knox-Brown, Patrick A1 - Rindfleisch, Tobias A1 - Thalhammer, Anja A1 - Daughdrill, Gary T1 - Evolution of Transient Helicity and Disorder in Late Embryogenesis Abundant Protein COR15A T2 - Biophysical journal N2 - Cold regulated protein 15A (COR15A) is a nuclear encoded, intrinsically disordered protein that is found in Arabidopsis thaliana. It belongs to the Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) family of proteins and is responsible for increased freezing tolerance in plants. COR15A is intrinsically disordered in dilute solutions and adopts a helical structure upon dehydration or in the presence of co-solutes such as TFE and ethylene glycol. This helical structure is thought to be important for protecting plants from dehydration induced by freezing. Multiple protein sequence alignments revealed the presence of several conserved glycine residues that we hypothesize keeps COR15A from becoming helical in dilute solutions. Using AGADIR, the change in helical content of COR15A when these conserved glycine residues were mutated to alanine residues was predicted. Based on the predictions, glycine to alanine mutants were made at position 68, and 54,68,81, and 84. Labeled samples of wildtype COR15A and mutant proteins were purified and NMR experiments were performed to examine any structural changes induced by the mutations. To test the effects of dehydration on the structure of COR15A, trifluoroethanol, an alcohol based co solvent that is proposed to induce/stabilize helical structure in peptides was added to the NMR samples, and the results of the experiment showed an increase in helical content, compared to the samples without TFE. To test the functional differences between wild type and the mutants, liposome leakage assays were performed. The results from these assays suggest the more helical mutants may augment membrane stability. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2018.11.2553 SN - 0006-3495 SN - 1542-0086 VL - 116 IS - 3 SP - 473A EP - 473A PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maes, Sybryn L. A1 - Blondeel, Haben A1 - Perring, Michael P. A1 - Depauw, Leen A1 - Brumelis, Guntis A1 - Brunet, Jörg A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - den Ouden, Jan A1 - Haerdtle, Werner A1 - Hedl, Radim A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Heinrichs, Steffi A1 - Jaroszewicz, Bogdan A1 - Kirby, Keith J. A1 - Kopecky, Martin A1 - Malis, Frantisek A1 - Wulf, Monika A1 - Verheyen, Kris T1 - Litter quality, land-use history, and nitrogen deposition effects on topsoil conditions across European temperate deciduous forests JF - Forest ecology and management N2 - Topsoil conditions in temperate forests are influenced by several soil-forming factors, such as canopy composition (e.g. through litter quality), land-use history, atmospheric deposition, and the parent material. Many studies have evaluated the effects of single factors on physicochemical topsoil conditions, but few have assessed the simultaneous effects of multiple drivers. Here, we evaluate the combined effects of litter quality, land-use history (past land cover as well as past forest management), and atmospheric deposition on several physicochemical topsoil conditions of European temperate deciduous forest soils: bulk density, proportion of exchangeable base cations, carbon/nitrogen-ratio (C/N), litter mass, bio-available and total phosphorus, pH(KCI)and soil organic matter. We collected mineral soil and litter layer samples, and measured site characteristics for 190 20 x 20 m European mixed forest plots across gradients of litter quality (derived from the canopy species composition) and atmospheric deposition, and for different categories of past land cover and past forest management. We accounted for the effects of parent material on topsoil conditions by clustering our plots into three soil type groups based on texture and carbonate concentration. We found that litter quality was a stronger driver of topsoil conditions compared to land-use history or atmospheric deposition, while the soil type also affected several topsoil conditions here. Plots with higher litter quality had soils with a higher proportion of exchangeable base cations, and total phosphorus, and lower C/N-ratios and litter mass. Furthermore, the observed litter quality effects on the topsoil were independent from the regional nitrogen deposition or the soil type, although the soil type likely (co)-determined canopy composition and thus litter quality to some extent in the investigated plots. Litter quality effects on topsoil phosphorus concentrations did interact with past land cover, highlighting the need to consider land-use history when evaluating canopy effects on soil conditions. We conclude that forest managers can use the canopy composition as an important tool for influencing topsoil conditions, although soil type remains an important factor to consider. KW - Soil fertility KW - Ancient forest KW - Post-agricultural forest KW - Coppice KW - High forest KW - pH KW - Phosphorus KW - Base cations KW - Nutrient cycling KW - Decomposition Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.056 SN - 0378-1127 SN - 1872-7042 VL - 433 SP - 405 EP - 418 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sowemimo, Oluwakemi T. A1 - Knox-Brown, Patrick A1 - Borcherds, Wade A1 - Rindfleisch, Tobias A1 - Thalhammer, Anja A1 - Daughdrill, Gary W. T1 - Conserved Glycines Control Disorder and Function in the Cold-Regulated Protein, COR15A JF - Biomolecules N2 - Cold-regulated (COR) 15A is an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) from Arabidopsis thaliana important for freezing tolerance. During freezing-induced cellular dehydration, COR15A transitions from a disordered to mostly alpha-helical structure. We tested whether mutations that increase the helicity of COR15A also increase its protective function. Conserved glycine residues were identified and mutated to alanine. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to identify residue-specific changes in helicity for wildtype (WT) COR15A and the mutants. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy was used to monitor the coil-helix transition in response to increasing concentrations of trifluoroethanol (TFE) and ethylene glycol. The impact of the COR15A mutants on the stability of model membranes during a freeze-thaw cycle was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. The results of these experiments showed the mutants had a higher content of alpha-helical structure and the increased alpha-helicity improved membrane stabilization during freezing. Comparison of the TFE- and ethylene glycol-induced coil-helix transitions support our conclusion that increasing the transient helicity of COR15A in aqueous solution increases its ability to stabilize membranes during freezing. Altogether, our results suggest the conserved glycine residues are important for maintaining the disordered structure of COR15A but are also compatible with the formation of alpha-helical structure during freezing induced dehydration. KW - COR15A KW - Late embryogenesis abundant KW - intrinsically disordered proteins KW - Trifluoroethanol KW - Nuclear magnetic resonance Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/biom9030084 SN - 2218-273X VL - 9 IS - 3 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bubner, Ben A1 - Buchheit, Ramona A1 - Friedrich, Frank A1 - Kummer, Volker A1 - Scholler, Markus T1 - Species identification of European forest pathogens of the genus Milesina (Pucciniales) using urediniospore morphology and molecular barcoding including M. woodwardiana sp. nov. JF - MycoKeys N2 - Species of rust fungi of the genus Milesina (Pucciiastraceae, Pucciniales) are distributed mainly in northern temperate regions. They host-alternate between needles of fir (Abies spp.) and fronds of ferns (species of Polypodiales). Milesina species are distinguished based on host taxonomy and urediniospore morphology. In this study, 12 species of Milesina from Europe were revised. Specimens were examined by light and scanning electron microscopy for urediniospore morphology with a focus on visualising germ pores (number, size and position) and echinulation. In addition, barcode loci (ITS, nad6, 28S) were used for species delimitation and for molecular phylogenetic analyses. Barcodes of 72 Milesina specimens were provided, including 11 of the 12 species. Whereas urediniospore morphology features were sufficient to distinguish all 12 Milesina species except for 2 (M. blechni and M. kriegeriana), ITS sequences separated only 4 of 11 species. Sequencing with 28S and nad6 did not improve species resolution. Phylogenetic analysis, however, revealed four phylogenetic groups within Milesina that also correlate with specific urediniospore characters (germ pore number and position and echinulation). These groups are proposed as new sections within Milesina (sections Milesina, Vogesiacae M. Scholler & Bubner, sect. nov., Scolopendriorum M. Scholler & Bubner, sect. nov. and Carpaticae M. Scholler & Bubner, sect. nov.). In addition, Milesina woodwardiana Buchheit & M. Scholler, sp. nov. on Woodwardia radicans, a member of the type section Milesina, is newly described. An identification key for European Milesina species, based on urediniospore features, is provided. KW - Abies alba KW - Polypodiales KW - GBOL KW - germ pores KW - host alternation KW - Uredinopsis KW - Europe Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.48.30350 SN - 1314-4057 SN - 1314-4049 IS - 48 SP - 1 EP - 40 PB - Pensoft Publishers CY - Sofia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Middeldorp, Christel M. A1 - Mahajan, Anubha A1 - Horikoshi, Momoko A1 - Robertson, Neil R. A1 - Beaumont, Robin N. A1 - Bradfield, Jonathan P. A1 - Bustamante, Mariona A1 - Cousminer, Diana L. A1 - Day, Felix R. A1 - De Silva, N. Maneka A1 - Guxens, Monica A1 - Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O. A1 - St Pourcain, Beate A1 - Warrington, Nicole M. A1 - Adair, Linda S. A1 - Ahlqvist, Emma A1 - Ahluwalia, Tarunveer Singh A1 - Almgren, Peter A1 - Ang, Wei A1 - Atalay, Mustafa A1 - Auvinen, Juha A1 - Bartels, Meike A1 - Beckmann, Jacques S. A1 - Bilbao, Jose Ramon A1 - Bond, Tom A1 - Borja, Judith B. A1 - Cavadino, Alana A1 - Charoen, Pimphen A1 - Chen, Zhanghua A1 - Coin, Lachlan A1 - Cooper, Cyrus A1 - Curtin, John A. A1 - Custovic, Adnan A1 - Das, Shikta A1 - Davies, Gareth E. A1 - Dedoussis, George V. A1 - Duijts, Liesbeth A1 - Eastwood, Peter R. A1 - Eliasen, Anders U. A1 - Elliott, Paul A1 - Eriksson, Johan G. A1 - Estivill, Xavier A1 - Fadista, Joao A1 - Fedko, Iryna O. A1 - Frayling, Timothy M. A1 - Gaillard, Romy A1 - Gauderman, W. James A1 - Geller, Frank A1 - Gilliland, Frank A1 - Gilsanz, Vincente A1 - Granell, Raquel A1 - Grarup, Niels A1 - Groop, Leif A1 - Hadley, Dexter A1 - Hakonarson, Hakon A1 - Hansen, Torben A1 - Hartman, Catharina A. A1 - Hattersley, Andrew T. A1 - Hayes, M. Geoffrey A1 - Hebebrand, Johannes A1 - Heinrich, Joachim A1 - Helgeland, Oyvind A1 - Henders, Anjali K. A1 - Henderson, John A1 - Henriksen, Tine B. A1 - Hirschhorn, Joel N. A1 - Hivert, Marie-France A1 - Hocher, Berthold A1 - Holloway, John W. A1 - Holt, Patrick A1 - Hottenga, Jouke-Jan A1 - Hypponen, Elina A1 - Iniguez, Carmen A1 - Johansson, Stefan A1 - Jugessur, Astanand A1 - Kahonen, Mika A1 - Kalkwarf, Heidi J. A1 - Kaprio, Jaakko A1 - Karhunen, Ville A1 - Kemp, John P. A1 - Kerkhof, Marjan A1 - Koppelman, Gerard H. A1 - Korner, Antje A1 - Kotecha, Sailesh A1 - Kreiner-Moller, Eskil A1 - Kulohoma, Benard A1 - Kumar, Ashish A1 - Kutalik, Zoltan A1 - Lahti, Jari A1 - Lappe, Joan M. A1 - Larsson, Henrik A1 - Lehtimaki, Terho A1 - Lewin, Alexandra M. A1 - Li, Jin A1 - Lichtenstein, Paul A1 - Lindgren, Cecilia M. A1 - Lindi, Virpi A1 - Linneberg, Allan A1 - Liu, Xueping A1 - Liu, Jun A1 - Lowe, William L. A1 - Lundstrom, Sebastian A1 - Lyytikainen, Leo-Pekka A1 - Ma, Ronald C. W. A1 - Mace, Aurelien A1 - Magi, Reedik A1 - Magnus, Per A1 - Mamun, Abdullah A. A1 - Mannikko, Minna A1 - Martin, Nicholas G. A1 - Mbarek, Hamdi A1 - McCarthy, Nina S. A1 - Medland, Sarah E. A1 - Melbye, Mads A1 - Melen, Erik A1 - Mohlke, Karen L. A1 - Monnereau, Claire A1 - Morgen, Camilla S. A1 - Morris, Andrew P. A1 - Murray, Jeffrey C. A1 - Myhre, Ronny A1 - Najman, Jackob M. A1 - Nivard, Michel G. A1 - Nohr, Ellen A. A1 - Nolte, Ilja M. A1 - Ntalla, Ioanna A1 - Oberfield, Sharon E. A1 - Oken, Emily A1 - Oldehinkel, Albertine J. A1 - Pahkala, Katja A1 - Palviainen, Teemu A1 - Panoutsopoulou, Kalliope A1 - Pedersen, Oluf A1 - Pennell, Craig E. A1 - Pershagen, Goran A1 - Pitkanen, Niina A1 - Plomin, Robert A1 - Power, Christine A1 - Prasad, Rashmi B. A1 - Prokopenko, Inga A1 - Pulkkinen, Lea A1 - Raikkonen, Katri A1 - Raitakari, Olli T. A1 - Reynolds, Rebecca M. A1 - Richmond, Rebecca C. A1 - Rivadeneira, Fernando A1 - Rodriguez, Alina A1 - Rose, Richard J. A1 - Salem, Rany A1 - Santa-Marina, Loreto A1 - Saw, Seang-Mei A1 - Schnurr, Theresia M. A1 - Scott, James G. A1 - Selzam, Saskia A1 - Shepherd, John A. A1 - Simpson, Angela A1 - Skotte, Line A1 - Sleiman, Patrick M. A. A1 - Snieder, Harold A1 - Sorensen, Thorkild I. A. A1 - Standl, Marie A1 - Steegers, Eric A. P. A1 - Strachan, David P. A1 - Straker, Leon A1 - Strandberg, Timo A1 - Taylor, Michelle A1 - Teo, Yik-Ying A1 - Thiering, Elisabeth A1 - Torrent, Maties A1 - Tyrrell, Jessica A1 - Uitterlinden, Andre G. A1 - van Beijsterveldt, Toos A1 - van der Most, Peter J. A1 - van Duijn, Cornelia M. A1 - Viikari, Jorma A1 - Vilor-Tejedor, Natalia A1 - Vogelezang, Suzanne A1 - Vonk, Judith M. A1 - Vrijkotte, Tanja G. M. A1 - Vuoksimaa, Eero A1 - Wang, Carol A. A1 - Watkins, William J. A1 - Wichmann, H-Erich A1 - Willemsen, Gonneke A1 - Williams, Gail M. A1 - Wilson, James F. A1 - Wray, Naomi R. A1 - Xu, Shujing A1 - Xu, Cheng-Jian A1 - Yaghootkar, Hanieh A1 - Yi, Lu A1 - Zafarmand, Mohammad Hadi A1 - Zeggini, Eleftheria A1 - Zemel, Babette S. A1 - Hinney, Anke A1 - Lakka, Timo A. A1 - Whitehouse, Andrew J. O. A1 - Sunyer, Jordi A1 - Widen, Elisabeth E. A1 - Feenstra, Bjarke A1 - Sebert, Sylvain A1 - Jacobsson, Bo A1 - Njolstad, Pal R. A1 - Stoltenberg, Camilla A1 - Smith, George Davey A1 - Lawlor, Debbie A. A1 - Paternoster, Lavinia A1 - Timpson, Nicholas J. A1 - Ong, Ken K. A1 - Bisgaard, Hans A1 - Bonnelykke, Klaus A1 - Jaddoe, Vincent W. V. A1 - Tiemeier, Henning A1 - Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta A1 - Evans, David M. A1 - Perry, John R. B. A1 - Grant, Struan F. A. A1 - Boomsma, Dorret I. A1 - Freathy, Rachel M. A1 - McCarthy, Mark I. A1 - Felix, Janine F. T1 - The Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia BT - design, results and future prospects JF - European journal of epidemiology N2 - The impact of many unfavorable childhood traits or diseases, such as low birth weight and mental disorders, is not limited to childhood and adolescence, as they are also associated with poor outcomes in adulthood, such as cardiovascular disease. Insight into the genetic etiology of childhood and adolescent traits and disorders may therefore provide new perspectives, not only on how to improve wellbeing during childhood, but also how to prevent later adverse outcomes. To achieve the sample sizes required for genetic research, the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia were established. The majority of the participating cohorts are longitudinal population-based samples, but other cohorts with data on early childhood phenotypes are also involved. Cohorts often have a broad focus and collect(ed) data on various somatic and psychiatric traits as well as environmental factors. Genetic variants have been successfully identified for multiple traits, for example, birth weight, atopic dermatitis, childhood BMI, allergic sensitization, and pubertal growth. Furthermore, the results have shown that genetic factors also partly underlie the association with adult traits. As sample sizes are still increasing, it is expected that future analyses will identify additional variants. This, in combination with the development of innovative statistical methods, will provide detailed insight on the mechanisms underlying the transition from childhood to adult disorders. Both consortia welcome new collaborations. Policies and contact details are available from the corresponding authors of this manuscript and/or the consortium websites. KW - Genetics KW - Consortium KW - Childhood traits and disorders KW - Longitudinal Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00502-9 SN - 0393-2990 SN - 1573-7284 VL - 34 IS - 3 SP - 279 EP - 300 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duydu, Yalcin A1 - Basaran, Nursen A1 - Yalcin, Can Özgür A1 - Ustundag, Aylin A1 - Aydin, Sevtap A1 - Anlar, Hatice Gul A1 - Bacanli, Merve A1 - Aydos, Kaan A1 - Atabekoglu, Cem Somer A1 - Golka, Klaus A1 - Ickstadt, Katja A1 - Schwerdtle, Tanja A1 - Werner, Matthias A1 - Bolt, Hermann M. T1 - Boron-exposed male workers in Turkey BT - no change in sperm Y:X chromosome ratio and in offspring's sex ratio JF - Archives of toxicology : official journal of EUROTOX N2 - Boron-associated shifts in sex ratios at birth were suggested earlier and attributed to a decrease in Y- vs. X-bearing sperm cells. As the matter is pivotal in the discussion of reproductive toxicity of boron/borates, re-investigation in a highly borate-exposed population was required. In the present study, 304 male workers in Bandirma and Bigadic (Turkey) with different degrees of occupational and environmental exposure to boron were investigated. Boron was quantified in blood, urine and semen, and the persons were allocated to exposure groups along B blood levels. In the highest ("extreme") exposure group (n = 69), calculated mean daily boron exposures, semen boron and blood boron concentrations were 44.91 +/- 18.32 mg B/day, 1643.23 +/- 965.44 ng B/g semen and 553.83 +/- 149.52 ng B/g blood, respectively. Overall, an association between boron exposure and Y:X sperm ratios in semen was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Also, the mean Y:X sperm ratios in semen samples of workers allocated to the different exposure groups were statistically not different in pairwise comparisons (p > 0.05). Additionally, a boron-associated shift in sex ratio at birth towards female offspring was not visible. In essence, the present results do not support an association between boron exposure and decreased Y:X sperm ratio in males, even under extreme boron exposure conditions. KW - Paternal exposure KW - Boron exposure KW - Y:X chromosome ratio KW - Sex ratio at birth Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-019-02391-z SN - 0340-5761 SN - 1432-0738 VL - 93 IS - 3 SP - 743 EP - 751 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dong, Yang A1 - Jantzen, Friederike A1 - Stacey, Nicola A1 - Langowski, Lukasz A1 - Moubayidin, Laila A1 - Simura, Jan A1 - Ljung, Karin A1 - Ostergaard, Lars T1 - Regulatory Diversification of INDEHISCENT in the Capsella Genus Directs Variation in Fruit Morphology JF - Current biology N2 - Evolution of gene-regulatory sequences is considered the primary driver of morphological variation [1-3]. In animals, the diversity of body plans between distantly related phyla is due to the differential expression patterns of conserved "toolkit' genes [4]. In plants, variation in expression domains similarly underlie most of the reported diversity of organ shape both in natural evolution and in the domestication of crops [5-9]. The heart-shaped fruit from members of the Capsella genus is a morphological novelty that has evolved after Capsella diverged from Arabidopsis similar to 8 mya [10]. Comparative studies of fruit growth in Capsella and Arabidopsis revealed that the difference in shape is caused by local control of anisotropic growth [11]. Here, we show that sequence variation in regulatory domains of the fruit-tissue identity gene, INDEHISCENT (IND), is responsible for expansion of its expression domain in the heart-shaped fruits from Capsella rubella. We demonstrate that expression of this CrIND gene in the apical part of the valves in Capsella contributes to the heart-shaped appearance. While studies on morphological diversity have revealed the importance of cis-regulatory sequence evolution, few examples exist where the downstream effects of such variation have been characterized in detail. We describe here how CrIND exerts its function on Capsella fruit shape by binding sequence elements of auxin biosynthesis genes to activate their expression and ensure auxin accumulation into highly localized maxima in the fruit valves. Thus, our data provide a direct link between changes in expression pattern and altered hormone homeostasis in the evolution of morphological novelty. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.057 SN - 0960-9822 SN - 1879-0445 VL - 29 IS - 6 SP - 1038 EP - 1046 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gendre, Delphine A1 - Baral, Anirban A1 - Dang, Xie A1 - Esnay, Nicolas A1 - Boutte, Yohann A1 - Stanislas, Thomas A1 - Vain, Thomas A1 - Claverol, Stephane A1 - Gustavsson, Anna A1 - Lin, Deshu A1 - Grebe, Markus A1 - Bhalerao, Rishikesh P. T1 - Rho-of-plant activated root hair formation requires Arabidopsis YIP4a/b gene function JF - Development : Company of Biologists N2 - Root hairs are protrusions from root epidermal cells with crucial roles in plant soil interactions. Although much is known about patterning, polarity and tip growth of root hairs, contributions of membrane trafficking to hair initiation remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the trans-Golgi network-localized YPT-INTERACTING PROTEIN 4a and YPT-INTERACTING PROTEIN 4b (YIP4a/b) contribute to activation and plasma membrane accumulation of Rho-of-plant (ROP) small GTPases during hair initiation, identifying YIP4a/b as central trafficking components in ROP-dependent root hair formation. KW - ROP KW - YIP KW - Root hair KW - Secretion KW - Trans-Golgi network Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.168559 SN - 0950-1991 SN - 1477-9129 VL - 146 IS - 5 PB - The Company of Biologists CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Plikk, Anna A1 - Engels, Stefan A1 - Luoto, Tomi P. A1 - Nazarova, Larisa B. A1 - Salonen, J. Sakari A1 - Helmens, Karin F. T1 - Chironomid-based temperature reconstruction for the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) at Sokli, northeast Finland JF - Journal of paleolimnology N2 - The Last Interglacial (Eemian, MIS 5e) can be considered a test-bed for climate dynamics under a warmer-than-present climate. In this study we present a chironomid record from the high latitude Sokli site (N Finland), where a long continuous sediment sequence from the last interglacial has been preserved from glacial erosion. The chironomid-analysis shows a diverse fauna, with dominance of warm-water indicators and shifts in assemblage composition that can be attributed to temperature, lake depth, productivity and habitat availability. Quantitative mean July paleotemperature estimates based on the chironomid data indicate overall mean July air temperatures up to 1 degrees C warmer than present. Two cooling events can be discerned, the Tunturi event, dated to about 127.5kaBP, in the lower part of the sequence, and the Varrio event, dated to about 119kaBP, associated with the beginning of a cooling trend in the upper part of the record. Warm conditions already at the onset of the interglacial contrast with a recent chironomid-based last interglacial temperature reconstruction from Denmark, which suggests a late onset of Eemian warming. The relatively small increase in inferred temperatures compared to present day temperatures at Sokli differs from other high latitude Eemian sites, and likely reflects the influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in maintaining already elevated temperatures in Fennoscandia during interglacials. KW - Paleoclimate KW - Abrupt events KW - Last Interglacial KW - AMOC KW - Transfer functions KW - Validation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-018-00064-y SN - 0921-2728 SN - 1573-0417 VL - 61 IS - 3 SP - 355 EP - 371 PB - Springer Science CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwabe, Angelika A1 - Tischew, Sabine A1 - Bergmeier, Erwin A1 - Garve, Eckhard A1 - Härdtle, Werner A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Peppler-Lisbach, Cord A1 - Remy, Dominique A1 - Dierschke, Hartmut T1 - Pflanzengesellschaft des Jahres 2020 BT - Borstgrasrasen JF - Tuexenia : Mitteilungen der Floristisch-Soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft N2 - Wie erstmals 2019 wird auch für das Jahr 2020 von der „Floristisch-soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft“ (FlorSoz) für Deutschland die „Pflanzengesellschaft des Jahres“ vorgestellt. Damit soll wiederum für die Öffentlichkeit die Notwendigkeit des Schutzes gefährdeter Pflanzengesellschaften aufgezeigt werden. Für das Jahr 2020 wurden die Borstgrasrasen ausgewählt. Wie alle Pflanzengemeinschaften nährstoffarmer Standorte, sind auch die Borstgrasrasen stark gefährdet und regional sogar unmittelbar vom Aussterben bedroht. Wir konzentrieren uns vor allem auf die Bestände der planaren bis montanen Stufe (Unterverband Violenion caninae: Hundsveilchen-Borstgrasrasen). Die Standorte von Violenion caninae-Gesellschaften werden nicht gedüngt und sind auf extensive Beweidung, z.T. auch auf einschürige Mahd angewiesen. Für Borstgrasrasen bezeichnend sind eine Fülle gefährdeter Pflanzenarten wie z.B. Arnica montana (Arnika) und Antennaria dioica (Zweihäusiges Katzenpfötchen). Bei den Borstgrasrasen spielen für die zunehmend hohe Gefährdung nicht nur Flächenrückgänge durch Nutzungsaufgabe, Aufforstung, Sport- und Freizeitaktivitäten und Überbauung eine Rolle, sondern auch Änderungen der Struktur und Artenzusammensetzung durch direkte Düngung sowie atmogene Stickstoffeinträge sind von Bedeutung. Nährstoffanreicherungen führen zum Verlust der konkurrenzschwachen, gefährdeten Arten zugunsten einiger allgemein verbreiteter, häufig dominanter Gräser sowie konkurrenzkräftiger Kräuter. Wir skizzieren die Bedeutung der Borstgrasrasen als gefährdete Lebensgemeinschaften, geben Hinweise zur floristisch-soziologischen Erforschung und zu weiteren Naturschutz-Aspekten (Rückgang, Erhaltung, Möglichkeiten der Restitution). Ein wirksamer Schutz ist nur bei einem integrativen Naturschutzansatz mit geeigneter Nutzung möglich. N2 - As for the first time in 2019 the ‘Floristisch-soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft (FlorSoz)’ intro-duces the ‘Plant Community of the Year 2020’ for Germany. The FlorSoz proposal aims to alert the public that the conservation of endangered plant communities and their biodiversity is essential.For the year 2020 the plant community of mat-grass swards (Nardus stricta grassland) has been selected. Similar to other plant communities on nutrient-poor sites, Nardus grassland is highly endan-gered and in some regions on the brink of extinction. We focus on Nardus grassland of the lowland to montane levels with the characteristic Violenion caninae suballiance (named after Viola canina,the Heath Dog-violet). The sites of Violenion caninae communities are not fertilized and depend on extensive grazing, but there are also mat-grass swards which are mown once a year. Nardus grasslands host many threatened species, e.g., Arnica montana (Arnica) and Antennaria dioica (Mountain Everlasting).The decline of Nardus grassland is not only due to abandonment, afforestation, outdoor activities and construction measures, but also due to changes in the structure and species composition through eutrophication by either direct manuring or by atmospheric nitrogen input. Eutrophication causes local decline or extinction of low-competitive, often endangered species which are replaced by ubiquists, mostly highly competitive species. For management, long-term conservation practices like extensive grazing or cutting once a year are essential. We give an outline of Nardus grassland as an endangered habitat type and summarize its current state of ecological and phytosociological research. In particular we take up the issue of conservation, including the loss of Nardus grasslands and their restoration. Effective conservation depends on an integrative nature-conservation approach, using suitable man-agement practices. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.14471/2019.39.017 SN - 0722-494X IS - 39 SP - 287 EP - 308 PB - Floristisch-soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reimann, Anna A1 - Beyer, Rudolf A1 - Mumm, Rebekka A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Reference tables with centiles of limb to body height ratios of healthy human adults for assessing potential thalidomide embryopathy JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - Background: Over 60 years ago the biggest drug catastrophe in Germany took place. The drug thalidomide, sold by the German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grunenthal GmbH starting in 1957 under the name "Contergan", caused severe birth defects in newborns. Chemie Grunenthal withdraw Contergan in 1961. Until nearly 30 years later in 1988 there were already over 10.000 children born with severe birth defects (e.g. dysmelia, amelia, congenital heart defect). Due to the high variability of the birth defects caused by thalidomide, later called thalidomide embryopathy, there is still no detailed information about the proportions of limbs. Aim: The aim is to develop reference centiles for limb measurements of men and women aged 19-70 years old. Method: For the calculation, data of healthy men and women (m = 2984, f = 2838) from former East Germany were used and centiles using the LMS-method were developed. Results: Centile tables for arm and leg length of men and women are presented in the results. The variability is small due to a homogeneous distribution of the measurements. A test with randomly chosen patient data shows that women under 171 cm stature and men under 180 cm stature can be assessed correctly. A severe shortening of limbs can be detected with this method. KW - thalidomide embryopathy KW - contergan KW - anthropometry KW - body proportions Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2019/0981 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 76 IS - 5 SP - 391 EP - 400 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mumm, Rebekka A1 - Scheffler, Christiane T1 - Lack of evidence of nutritional influence on height in four low and middle-income countries JF - Journal of biological and clinical anthropology : Anthropologischer Anzeiger ; Mitteilungsorgan der Gesellschaft für Anthropologie N2 - ‘Nutrition influences height’ has been a common concept for the last decades. Recently, contradictory results occurred when studying the effectiveness of nutritional interventions, questioning the interaction of nutrition and height. Therefore, we hypothesize that, independently of population/country, nutrition does not affect height in children and adolescents. We analyzed data from the study “Young Lives” which was performed in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam to describe the health situation of children. We used linear mixed effect models to analyze the influence of nutrition on height. Furthermore, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test if the commonly assumed hypothetical interaction of height and nutrition can be supported by data from low and middle-income countries. Estimates for nutrition on height of linear mixed effect models were about zero and randomly significant or non-significant in all analyzed countries. Furthermore, SEM led to the rejection of the ‘nutrition influences height’-hypothesis, as data did not support the models based on this hypothesis. We do not find evidence for a nutritional influence on height in children and adolescents from low and middle-income countries. The widespread assumption that inadequate diet is reflected in short stature, which all modern nutritional interventions are based on, needs to be critically reviewed. KW - nutrition KW - height KW - children KW - low and middle-income Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2019/0988 SN - 0003-5548 VL - 76 IS - 5 SP - 421 EP - 432 PB - Schweizerbart CY - Stuttgart ER - TY - GEN A1 - Dierschke, Hartmut A1 - Heinken, Thilo T1 - Vorwort T2 - Tuexenia : Mitteilungen der Floristisch-Soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft Y1 - 2019 UR - https://www.tuexenia.de/publications/tuexenia/Tuexenia_2019_NS_039_0007-0007.pdf SN - 0722-494X IS - 39 SP - 7 EP - 7 PB - Floristisch-Soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heim, D. M. A1 - Heim, Olga A1 - Zeng, P. A. A1 - Zheng, Jeffrey T1 - Successful Creation of Regular Patterns in Variant Maps from Bat Echolocation Calls JF - Variant Construction from Theoretical Foundation to Applications N2 - We created variant maps based on bat echolocation call recordings and outline here the transformation process and describe the resulting visual features. The maps show regular patterns while characteristic features change when bat call recording properties change. By focusing on specific visual features, we found a set of projection parameters which allowed us to classify the variant maps into two distinct groups. These results are promising indicators that variant maps can be used as basis for new echolocation call classification algorithms. KW - Echolocation KW - Algorithms KW - Morphometry KW - Fourier KW - Analysis KW - Quaternions Y1 - 2019 SN - 978-981-13-2282-2 SN - 978-981-13-2281-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2282-2_25 SP - 391 EP - 400 PB - Springer CY - Singapore ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yamamichi, Masato A1 - Klauschies, Toni A1 - Miner, Brooks E. A1 - van Velzen, Ellen T1 - Modelling inducible defences in predator-prey interactions BT - assumptions and dynamical consequences of three distinct approaches JF - Ecology letters N2 - Inducible defences against predation are widespread in the natural world, allowing prey to economise on the costs of defence when predation risk varies over time or is spatially structured. Through interspecific interactions, inducible defences have major impacts on ecological dynamics, particularly predator-prey stability and phase lag. Researchers have developed multiple distinct approaches, each reflecting assumptions appropriate for particular ecological communities. Yet, the impact of inducible defences on ecological dynamics can be highly sensitive to the modelling approach used, making the choice of model a critical decision that affects interpretation of the dynamical consequences of inducible defences. Here, we review three existing approaches to modelling inducible defences: Switching Function, Fitness Gradient and Optimal Trait. We assess when and how the dynamical outcomes of these approaches differ from each other, from classic predator-prey dynamics and from commonly observed eco-evolutionary dynamics with evolving, but non-inducible, prey defences. We point out that the Switching Function models tend to stabilise population dynamics, and the Fitness Gradient models should be carefully used, as the difference with evolutionary dynamics is important. We discuss advantages of each approach for applications to ecological systems with particular features, with the goal of providing guidelines for future researchers to build on. KW - Adaptive dynamics KW - fitness gradient KW - inducible defence KW - optimal trait KW - phenotypic plasticity KW - predator-prey dynamics KW - reaction norm KW - switching function Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13183 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 22 IS - 2 SP - 390 EP - 404 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Coraman, Emrah A1 - Dietz, Christian A1 - Hempel, Elisabeth A1 - Ghazaryan, Astghik A1 - Levin, Eran A1 - Presetnik, Primoz A1 - Zagmajster, Maja A1 - Mayer, Frieder T1 - Reticulate evolutionary history of a Western Palaearctic Bat Complex explained by multiple mtDNA introgressions in secondary contacts JF - Journal of biogeography N2 - Aim There is an increasing evidence showing that species within various taxonomic groups have reticulate evolutionary histories with several cases of introgression events. Investigating the phylogeography of species complexes can provide insight into these introgressions, and when and where these hybridizations occurred. In this study, we investigate the biogeography of a widely distributed Western Palaearctic bat species complex, namely Myotis nattereri sensu lato. This complex exhibits high genetic diversity and in its western distribution range is composed of deeply diverged genetical lineages. However, little is known about the genetic structure of the eastern populations. We also infer the conservation and taxonomical implications of the identified genetic divergences. Taxon Myotis nattereri sensu lato including M. schaubi. Location Western Palaearctic. Methods We analysed 161 specimens collected from 67 locations and sequenced one mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA markers, and combined these with the available GenBank sequences. We used haplotype networks, PCA, t-SNE and Bayesian clustering algorithms to investigate the population structure and Bayesian trees to infer the phylogenetic relationship of the lineages. Results We identified deeply divergent genetical lineages. In some cases, nuclear and mitochondrial markers were discordant, which we interpret are caused by hybridization between lineages. We identified three such introgression events. These introgressions occurred when spatially separated lineages came into contact after range expansions. Based on the genetic distinction of the identified lineages, we suggest a revision in the taxonomy of this species group with two possible new species: M. hoveli and M. tschuliensis. Main conclusions Our findings suggest that the M. nattereri complex has a reticulate evolutionary history with multiple cases of hybridizations between some of the identified lineages. KW - cryptic species KW - glacial refugia KW - hybridization KW - introgression KW - range expansions KW - the Caucasus Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13509 SN - 0305-0270 SN - 1365-2699 VL - 46 IS - 2 SP - 343 EP - 354 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Luis Horreo, Jose A1 - Luisa Pelaez, Maria A1 - Breedveld, Merel Cathelijne A1 - Suarez, Teresa A1 - Urieta, Maria A1 - Fitze, Patrick S. T1 - Population structure of the oviparous South-West European common lizard JF - European journal of wildlife research N2 - Gene flow is an important factor determining the evolution of a species, since it directly affects population structure and species’ adaptation. Here, we investigated population structure, population history, and migration among populations covering the entire distribution of the geographically isolated South-West European common lizard (Zootoca vivipara louislantzi) using 34 newly developed polymorphic microsatellite markers. The analyses unravelled the presence of isolation by distance, inbreeding, recent bottlenecks, genetic differentiation, and low levels of migration among most populations, suggesting that Z. vivipara louislantzi is threatened. The results point to discontinuous populations and are in line with physical barriers hindering longitudinal migration south to the central Pyrenean cordillera and latitudinal migration in the central Pyrenees. In contrast, evidence for longitudinal migration exists from the lowlands north to the central Pyrenean cordillera and the Cantabrian Mountains. The locations of the populations south to the central Pyrenean cordillera were identified as the first to be affected by global warming; thus, management actions aimed at avoiding population declines should start in this area. KW - Climate change KW - Conservation KW - First-generation migrant KW - gene flow KW - IBD KW - Zootoca vivipara Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-018-1242-6 SN - 1612-4642 SN - 1439-0574 VL - 65 IS - 1 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Penone, Caterina A1 - Allan, Eric A1 - Soliveres, Santiago A1 - Felipe-Lucia, Maria R. A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Seibold, Sebastian A1 - Simons, Nadja K. A1 - Schall, Peter A1 - van der Plas, Fons A1 - Manning, Peter A1 - Manzanedo, Ruben D. A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Ammer, Christian A1 - Bauhus, Juergen A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Ehbrecht, Martin A1 - Goldmann, Kezia A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Mueller, Joerg A1 - Mueller, Joerg C. A1 - Pena, Rodica A1 - Polle, Andrea A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Ruess, Liliane A1 - Schoenig, Ingo A1 - Schrumpf, Marion A1 - Solly, Emily F. A1 - Tschapka, Marco A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Specialisation and diversity of multiple trophic groups are promoted by different forest features JF - Ecology letters N2 - While forest management strongly influences biodiversity, it remains unclear how the structural and compositional changes caused by management affect different community dimensions (e.g. richness, specialisation, abundance or completeness) and how this differs between taxa. We assessed the effects of nine forest features (representing stand structure, heterogeneity and tree composition) on thirteen above- and belowground trophic groups of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria in 150 temperate forest plots differing in their management type. Canopy cover decreased light resources, which increased community specialisation but reduced overall diversity and abundance. Features increasing resource types and diversifying microhabitats (admixing of oaks and conifers) were important and mostly affected richness. Belowground groups responded differently to those aboveground and had weaker responses to most forest features. Our results show that we need to consider forest features rather than broad management types and highlight the importance of considering several groups and community dimensions to better inform conservation. KW - biodiversity exploratories KW - dark diversity KW - forest management KW - global change KW - land-use KW - multidiversity KW - specialisation KW - temperate forests Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13182 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 22 IS - 1 SP - 170 EP - 180 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinrichs, Steffi A1 - Ammer, Christian A1 - Mund, Martina A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Budde, Sabine A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Mueller, Joerg A1 - Schoening, Ingo A1 - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Schmidt, Wolfgang A1 - Weckesser, Martin A1 - Schall, Peter T1 - Landscape-Scale Mixtures of Tree Species are More Effective than Stand-Scale Mixtures for Biodiversity of Vascular Plants, Bryophytes and Lichens JF - Forests N2 - Tree species diversity can positively affect the multifunctionality of forests. This is why conifer monocultures of Scots pine and Norway spruce, widely promoted in Central Europe since the 18th and 19th century, are currently converted into mixed stands with naturally dominant European beech. Biodiversity is expected to benefit from these mixtures compared to pure conifer stands due to increased abiotic and biotic resource heterogeneity. Evidence for this assumption is, however, largely lacking. Here, we investigated the diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens at the plot (alpha diversity) and at the landscape (gamma diversity) level in pure and mixed stands of European beech and conifer species (Scots pine, Norway spruce, Douglas fir) in four regions in Germany. We aimed to identify compositions of pure and mixed stands in a hypothetical forest landscape that can optimize gamma diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens within regions. Results show that gamma diversity of the investigated groups is highest when a landscape comprises different pure stands rather than tree species mixtures at the stand scale. Species mainly associated with conifers rely on light regimes that are only provided in pure conifer forests, whereas mixtures of beech and conifers are more similar to beech stands. Combining pure beech and pure conifer stands at the landscape scale can increase landscape level biodiversity and conserve species assemblages of both stand types, while landscapes solely composed of stand scale tree species mixtures could lead to a biodiversity reduction of a combination of investigated groups of 7 up to 20%. KW - Fagus sylvatica KW - Pinus sylvestris KW - Picea abies KW - Pseudotsuga menziesii KW - forest management KW - tree species diversity KW - forest conversion KW - gamma diversity KW - landscape scale KW - Biodiversity Exploratories Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/f10010073 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 1 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Awan, Asad Bashir A1 - Schiebel, Juliane A1 - Boehm, Alexander A1 - Nitschke, Joerg A1 - Sarwar, Yasra A1 - Schierack, Peter A1 - Ali, Aamir T1 - Association of biofilm formation and cytotoxic potential with multidrug resistance in clinical isolates of pseudomonas aeruginosa JF - EXCLI Journal N2 - Multidrug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa having strong biofilm potential and virulence factors are a serious threat for hospitalized patients having compromised immunity In this study, 34 P. aeruginosa isolates of human origin (17 MDR and 17 non-MDR clinical isolates) were checked for biofilm formation potential in enriched and minimal media. The biofilms were detected using crystal violet method and a modified software package of the automated VideoScan screening method. Cytotoxic potential of the isolates was also investigated on HepG2, LoVo and T24 cell lines using automated VideoScan technology. Pulse field gel electrophoresis revealed 10 PFGE types in MDR and 8 in non-MDR isolates. Although all isolates showed biofilm formation potential, strong biofilm formation was found more in enriched media than in minimal media. Eight MDR isolates showed strong biofilm potential in both enriched and minimal media by both detection methods. Strong direct correlation between crystal violet and VideoScan methods was observed in identifying strong biofilm forming isolates. High cytotoxic effect was observed by 4 isolates in all cell lines used while 6 other isolates showed high cytotoxic effect on T24 cell line only. Strong association of multidrug resistance was found with biofilm formation as strong biofilms were observed significantly higher in MDR isolates (p-value < 0.05) than non-MDR isolates. No significant association of cytotoxic potential with multidrug resistance or biofilm formation was found (p-value > 0.05). The MDR isolates showing significant cytotoxic effects and strong biofilm formation impose a serious threat for hospitalized patients with weak immune system. KW - Pseudomonas aeruginosa KW - multidrug resistance KW - biofilm KW - cytotoxicity KW - VideoScan technology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2018-1948 SN - 1611-2156 VL - 18 SP - 79 EP - 90 PB - Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors CY - Dortmund ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Velo-Antón, Guillermo A1 - Boratyński, Zbyszek A1 - Ferreira, Clara Mendes A1 - Lima, Vanessa O. A1 - Alves, Paulo C. A1 - Brito, José C. T1 - Intraspecific genetic diversity and distribution of North African hedgehogs (Mammalia: Erinaceidae) JF - Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution N2 - Despite growing efforts to halt biodiversity loss, knowledge of species diversity and distribution is highly geographically biased, leaving some areas unexplored. Taxa distributed in remote, desert areas, such as hedgehogs (Mammalia; Eulipotyphla) in North Africa, are good examples of current knowledge gaps in systematics and biogeography. Here we studied the geographical distribution and intraspecific genetic diversity of hedgehogs in North Africa. Specimens belonging to North African and Eurasian species were analysed with mitochondrial (control region, CR) and nuclear (recombination activating gene 1, RAG1) gene fragments. This revealed a broader geographical distribution of Atelerix algirus in south-western Libya and of Paraechinus aethiopicus along the Atlantic Sahara. High intraspecific genetic differentiation was found in A. algirus and A. albiventris at the mitochondrial level, with nuclear haplotype sharing across their ranges. These findings suggest that biogeographical patterns of hedgehogs in North Africa are more complex than previously suggested, highlighting a need for further investigation in this remote and poorly known area. KW - Atelerix albiventris KW - Atelerix algirus KW - conservation genetics KW - cryptic diversity KW - distribution KW - Paraechinus aethiopicus KW - Phylogeny KW - Sahara-Sahel Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz030 SN - 0024-4066 SN - 1095-8312 VL - 127 IS - 1 SP - 156 EP - 163 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pennekamp, Frank A1 - Iles, Alison C. A1 - Garland, Joshua A1 - Brennan, Georgina A1 - Brose, Ulrich A1 - Gaedke, Ursula A1 - Jacob, Ute A1 - Kratina, Pavel A1 - Matthews, Blake A1 - Munch, Stephan A1 - Novak, Mark A1 - Palamara, Gian Marco A1 - Rall, Bjorn C. A1 - Rosenbaum, Benjamin A1 - Tabi, Andrea A1 - Ward, Colette A1 - Williams, Richard A1 - Ye, Hao A1 - Petchey, Owen L. T1 - The intrinsic predictability of ecological time series and its potential to guide forecasting JF - Ecological monographs : a publication of the Ecological Society of America. KW - empirical dynamic modelling KW - forecasting KW - information theory KW - permutation entropy KW - population dynamics KW - time series analysis Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1359 SN - 0012-9615 SN - 1557-7015 VL - 89 IS - 2 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mota, Cristiano A1 - Esmaeeli Moghaddam Tabalvandani, Mariam A1 - Coelho, Catarina A1 - Santos-Silva, Teresa A1 - Wolff, Martin A1 - Foti, Alessandro A1 - Leimkühler, Silke A1 - Romao, Maria Joao T1 - Human aldehyde oxidase (hAOX1) BT - structure determination of the Moco-free form of the natural variant G1269R and biophysical studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms JF - FEBS Open Bio N2 - Human aldehyde oxidase (hAOX1) is a molybdenum enzyme with high toxicological importance, but its physiological role is still unknown. hAOX1 metabolizes different classes of xenobiotics and is one of the main drug-metabolizing enzymes in the liver, along with cytochrome P450. hAOX1 oxidizes and inactivates a large number of drug molecules and has been responsible for the failure of several phase I clinical trials. The interindividual variability of drug-metabolizing enzymes caused by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is highly relevant in pharmaceutical treatments. In this study, we present the crystal structure of the inactive variant G1269R, revealing the first structure of a molybdenum cofactor (Moco)-free form of hAOX1. These data allowed to model, for the first time, the flexible Gate 1 that controls access to the active site. Furthermore, we inspected the thermostability of wild-type hAOX1 and hAOX1 with various SNPs (L438V, R1231H, G1269R or S1271L) by CD spectroscopy and ThermoFAD, revealing that amino acid exchanges close to the Moco site can impact protein stability up to 10 degrees C. These results correlated with biochemical and structural data and enhance our understanding of hAOX1 and the effect of SNPs in the gene encoding this enzyme in the human population. EnzymesAldehyde oxidase (); xanthine dehydrogenase (); xanthine oxidase (). DatabasesStructural data are available in the Protein Data Bank under the accession number . KW - human aldehyde oxidase KW - molybdenum cofactor KW - single nucleotide polymorphism KW - xanthine oxidase Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2211-5463.12617 SN - 2211-5463 VL - 9 IS - 5 SP - 925 EP - 934 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jaric, Ivan A1 - Heger, Tina A1 - Monzon, Federico Castro A1 - Jeschke, Jonathan M. A1 - Kowarik, Ingo A1 - McConkey, Kim R. A1 - Pysek, Petr A1 - Sagouis, Alban A1 - Essl, Franz T1 - Crypticity in Biological Invasions JF - Trends in Ecology & Evolution N2 - Ecological effects of alien species can be dramatic, but management and prevention of negative impacts are often hindered by crypticity of the species or their ecological functions. Ecological functions can change dramatically over time, or manifest after long periods of an innocuous presence. Such cryptic processes may lead to an underestimation of long-term impacts and constrain management effectiveness. Here, we present a conceptual framework of crypticity in biological invasions. We identify the underlying mechanisms, provide evidence of their importance, and illustrate this phenomenon with case studies. This framework has potential to improve the recognition of the full risks and impacts of invasive species. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.12.008 SN - 0169-5347 SN - 1872-8383 VL - 34 IS - 4 SP - 291 EP - 302 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Essl, Franz A1 - Dawson, Wayne A1 - Kreft, Holger A1 - Pergl, Jan A1 - Pysek, Petr A1 - van Kleunen, Mark A1 - Weigelt, Patrick A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Dullinger, Stefan A1 - Lenzner, Bernd A1 - Moser, Dietmar A1 - Maurel, Noelie A1 - Seebens, Hanno A1 - Stein, Anke A1 - Weber, Ewald A1 - Chatelain, Cyrille A1 - Inderjit, A1 - Genovesi, Piero A1 - Kartesz, John A1 - Morozova, Olga A1 - Nishino, Misako A1 - Nowak, Pauline M. A1 - Pagad, Shyama A1 - Shu, Wen-sheng A1 - Winter, Marten T1 - Drivers of the relative richness of naturalized and invasive plant species on Earth JF - AoB PLANTS N2 - Biological invasions are a defining feature of the Anthropocene, but the factors that determine the spatially uneven distribution of alien plant species are still poorly understood. Here, we present the first global analysis of the effects of biogeographic factors, the physical environment and socio-economy on the richness of naturalized and invasive alien plants. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models and variation partitioning to disentangle the relative importance of individual factors, and, more broadly, of biogeography, physical environment and socio-economy. As measures of the magnitude of permanent anthropogenic additions to the regional species pool and of species with negative environmental impacts, we calculated the relative richness of naturalized (= RRN) and invasive (= RRI) alien plant species numbers adjusted for the number of native species in 838 terrestrial regions. Socio-economic factors (per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), population density, proportion of agricultural land) were more important in explaining RRI (similar to 50 % of the explained variation) than RRN (similar to 40 %). Warm-temperate and (sub)tropical regions have higher RRN than tropical or cooler regions. We found that socio-economic pressures are more relevant for invasive than for naturalized species richness. The expectation that the southern hemisphere is more invaded than the northern hemisphere was confirmed only for RRN on islands, but not for mainland regions nor for RRI. On average, islands have similar to 6-fold RRN, and >3-fold RRI compared to mainland regions. Eighty-two islands (=26 % of all islands) harbour more naturalized alien than native plants. Our findings challenge the widely held expectation that socio-economic pressures are more relevant for plant naturalization than for invasive plants. To meet international biodiversity targets and halt the detrimental consequences of plant invasions, it is essential to disrupt the connection between socio-economic development and plant invasions by improving pathway management, early detection and rapid response. KW - Alien species richness KW - biogeography KW - invasion stages KW - islands KW - pressures KW - vascular plants Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plz051 SN - 2041-2851 VL - 11 IS - 5 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - López de Guereñu, Anna A1 - Bastian, Philipp A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - John, Leonard A1 - Kumke, Michael Uwe T1 - Energy Transfer between Tm-Doped Upconverting Nanoparticles and a Small Organic Dye with Large Stokes Shift JF - Biosensors : open access journal N2 - Lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNP) are being extensively studied for bioapplications due to their unique photoluminescence properties and low toxicity. Interest in RET applications involving UCNP is also increasing, but due to factors such as large sizes, ion emission distributions within the particles, and complicated energy transfer processes within the UCNP, there are still many questions to be answered. In this study, four types of core and core-shell NaYF4-based UCNP co-doped with Yb3+ and Tm3+ as sensitizer and activator, respectively, were investigated as donors for the Methyl 5-(8-decanoylbenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d ']bis([1,3]dioxole)-4-yl)-5-oxopentanoate (DBD-6) dye. The possibility of resonance energy transfer (RET) between UCNP and the DBD-6 attached to their surface was demonstrated based on the comparison of luminescence intensities, band ratios, and decay kinetics. The architecture of UCNP influenced both the luminescence properties and the energy transfer to the dye: UCNP with an inert shell were the brightest, but their RET efficiency was the lowest (17%). Nanoparticles with Tm3+ only in the shell have revealed the highest RET efficiencies (up to 51%) despite the compromised luminescence due to surface quenching. KW - resonance energy transfer KW - DBD dye KW - core shell UCNP KW - time-resolved luminescence Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/bios9010009 SN - 2079-6374 VL - 9 IS - 1 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - THES A1 - Gonzalez de la Cruz, Jorge T1 - Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for formatotrophic growth Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Von Raab-Straube, Eckhard A1 - Raus, Thomas A1 - Bazos, Ioannis A1 - Cornec, J. P. A1 - De Belair, Gerard. A1 - Dimitrakopoulos, P. G. A1 - El Mokni, Ridha A1 - Fateryga, Alexander V. A1 - Fateryga, Valentina V. A1 - Fridlender, Alain A1 - Gil, Jaime A1 - Grigorenko, V. N. A1 - Hand, Ralf A1 - Kovalchuk, A. A1 - Mastrogianni, A. A1 - Otto, R. A1 - Rätzel, Stefan A1 - Raus, Th. A1 - Ristow, Michael A1 - Salas Pascual, M. A1 - Strid, Arne A1 - Svirin, S. A. A1 - Tsiripidis, Ioannis. A1 - Uhlich, Holger A1 - Vela, Errol A1 - Verloove, Filip A1 - Vidakis, K. A1 - Yena, Andriy Vasylyovych A1 - Yevseyenkov, P. E. A1 - Zeddam, A. T1 - Euro plus Med-Checklist Notulae, 11 JF - Willdenowia N2 - This is the eleventh of a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro+Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presented. This instalment deals with the families Anacardiaceae, Asparagaceae (incl. Hyacinthaceae), Bignoniaceae, Cactaceae, Compositae, Cruciferae, Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Gramineae, Labiatae, Leguminosae, Orobanchaceae, Polygonaceae, Rosaceae, Solanaceae and Staphyleaceae. It includes new country and area records and taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Bidens, Campsis, Centaurea, Cyperus, Drymocallis, Engem, Hoffmannseggia, Hypopitys, Lavandula, Lithraea, Melilotus, Nicotiana, Olimarabidopsis, Opuntia, Orobanche, Phelipanche, Phragmites, Rumex, Salvia, Schinus, Staphylea, and a new combination in Drimia. KW - distribution KW - Euro plus Med PlantBase KW - Europe KW - Med-Checklist KW - Mediterranean KW - new combination KW - new record KW - taxonomy KW - vascular plants Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.49.49312 SN - 0511-9618 VL - 49 IS - 3 SP - 421 EP - 445 PB - Botanischer Garten & botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Simons, Nadja K. A1 - Seibold, Sebastian A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Weithoff, Guntram A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Bezemer, T. Martijn A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - The relative importance of plant-soil feedbacks for plant-species performance increases with decreasing intensity of herbivory JF - Oecologia N2 - Under natural conditions, aboveground herbivory and plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) are omnipresent interactions strongly affecting individual plant performance. While recent research revealed that aboveground insect herbivory generally impacts the outcome of PSFs, no study tested to what extent the intensity of herbivory affects the outcome. This, however, is essential to estimate the contribution of PSFs to plant performance under natural conditions in the field. Here, we tested PSF effects both with and without exposure to aboveground herbivory for four common grass species in nine grasslands that formed a gradient of aboveground invertebrate herbivory. Without aboveground herbivores, PSFs for each of the four grass species were similar in each of the nine grasslands-both in direction and in magnitude. In the presence of herbivores, however, the PSFs differed from those measured under herbivory exclusion, and depended on the intensity of herbivory. At low levels of herbivory, PSFs were similar in the presence and absence of herbivores, but differed at high herbivory levels. While PSFs without herbivores remained similar along the gradient of herbivory intensity, increasing herbivory intensity mostly resulted in neutral PSFs in the presence of herbivores. This suggests that the relative importance of PSFs for plant-species performance in grassland communities decreases with increasing intensity of herbivory. Hence, PSFs might be more important for plant performance in ecosystems with low herbivore pressure than in ecosystems with large impacts of insect herbivores. KW - Plant-soil feedback KW - Herbivorous insects KW - Field conditions KW - Selective herbivory KW - Nutritional quality Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04442-9 SN - 0029-8549 SN - 1432-1939 VL - 190 IS - 3 SP - 651 EP - 664 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lachmann, Sabrina C. A1 - Mettler-Altmann, Tabea A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Spijkerman, Elly T1 - Nitrate or ammonium BT - Influences of nitrogen source on the physiology of a green alga JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - In freshwaters, algal species are exposed to different inorganic nitrogen (Ni) sources whose incorporation varies in biochemical energy demand. We hypothesized that due to the lesser energy requirement of ammonium (NH4+)-use, in contrast to nitrate (NO3-)-use, more energy remains for other metabolic processes, especially under CO2-and phosphorus (Pi) limiting conditions. Therefore, we tested differences in cell characteristics of the green alga Chlamydomonas acidophila grown on NH4+ or NO3- under covariation of CO2 and Pi-supply in order to determine limitations, in a full-factorial design. As expected, results revealed higher carbon fixation rates for NH4+ grown cells compared to growth with NO3- under low CO2 conditions. NO3- -grown cells accumulated more of the nine analyzed amino acids, especially under Pi-limited conditions, compared to cells provided with NH4+. This is probably due to a slower protein synthesis in cells provided with NO3-. In contrast to our expectations, compared to NH4+ -grown cells NO3- -grown cells had higher photosynthetic efficiency under Pi-limitation. In conclusion, growth on the Ni-source NH4+ did not result in a clearly enhanced Ci-assimilation, as it was highly dependent on Pi and CO2 conditions (replete or limited). Results are potentially connected to the fact that C. acidophila is able to use only CO2 as its inorganic carbon (Ci) source. KW - amino acids KW - carbon uptake kinetics KW - CO2 conditions KW - nitrogen KW - phosphorus limitation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4790 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 9 IS - 3 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gerhard, Miriam A1 - Koussoroplis, Apostolos Manuel A1 - Hillebrand, Helmut A1 - Striebel, Maren T1 - Phytoplankton community responses to temperature fluctuations under different nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry JF - Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America N2 - Nutrient availability and temperature are important drivers of phytoplankton growth and stoichiometry. However, the interactive effects of nutrients and temperature on phytoplankton have been analyzed mostly by addressing changes in average temperature, whereas recent evidence suggests an important role of temperature fluctuations. In a laboratory experiment, we grew a natural phytoplankton community under fluctuating and constant temperature regimes across 25 combinations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply. Temperature fluctuations decreased phytoplankton growth rate (r(max)), as predicted by nonlinear averaging along the temperature-growth relationship. r(max) increased with increasing P supply, and a significant temperature x P x N interaction reflected that the shape of the thermal reaction norm depended on nutrients. By contrast, phytoplankton carrying capacity increased with N supply and in fluctuating rather than constant temperature. Higher phytoplankton N:P ratios under constant temperature showed that temperature regimes affected cellular nutrient incorporation. Minor differences in species diversity and composition existed. Our results suggest that temperature variability interacts with nutrient supply to affect phytoplankton physiology and stoichiometry at the community level. KW - carrying capacity KW - growth rate KW - N KW - P ratios KW - phytoplankton composition KW - temperature variability KW - thermal performance Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2834 SN - 0012-9658 SN - 1939-9170 VL - 100 IS - 11 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koussoroplis, Apostolos-Manuel A1 - Schälicke, Svenja A1 - Raatz, Michael A1 - Bach, Moritz A1 - Wacker, Alexander T1 - Feeding in the frequency domain BT - Coarser-grained environments increase consumer sensitivity to resource variability, covariance and phase JF - Ecology letters N2 - Theory predicts that resource variability hinders consumer performance. How this effect depends on the temporal structure of resource fluctuations encountered by individuals remains poorly understood. Combining modelling and growth experiments with Daphnia magna, we decompose the complexity of resource fluctuations and test the effect of resource variance, supply peak timing (i.e. phase) and co-limiting resource covariance along a gradient from high to low frequencies reflecting fine- to coarse-grained environments. Our results show that resource storage can buffer growth at high frequencies, but yields a sensitivity of growth to resource peak timing at lower ones. When two resources covary, negative covariance causes stronger growth depression at low frequencies. However, negative covariance might be beneficial at intermediate frequencies, an effect that can be explained by digestive acclimation. Our study provides a mechanistic basis for understanding how alterations of the environmental grain size affect consumers experiencing variable nutritional quality in nature. KW - Cholesterol KW - covariance KW - Daphnia KW - digestive acclimation KW - dynamic energy budgets KW - food quality KW - phosphorus KW - storage KW - unbalanced diets Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13267 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 22 IS - 7 SP - 1104 EP - 1114 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grimm-Seyfarth, Annegret A1 - Mihoub, Jean-Baptiste A1 - Henle, Klaus T1 - Functional traits determine the different effects of prey, predators, and climatic extremes on desert reptiles JF - Ecosphere : the magazine of the International Ecology University N2 - Terrestrial reptiles are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Their highest density and diversity can be found in hot drylands, ecosystems which demonstrate extreme climatic conditions. However, reptiles are not isolated systems but part of a large species assemblage with many trophic dependencies. While direct relations among climatic conditions, invertebrates, vegetation, or reptiles have already been explored, to our knowledge, species’ responses to direct and indirect pathways of multiple climatic and biotic factors and their interactions have rarely been examined comprehensively. We investigated direct and indirect effects of climatic and biotic parameters on the individual (body condition) and population level (occupancy) of eight abundant lizard species with different functional traits in an arid Australian lizard community using a 30‐yr multi‐trophic monitoring study. We used structural equation modeling to disentangle single and interactive effects. We then assessed whether species could be grouped into functional groups according to their functional traits and their responses to different parameters. We found that lizard species differed strongly in how they responded to climatic and biotic factors. However, the factors to which they responded seemed to be determined by their functional traits. While responses on body condition were determined by habitat, activity time, and prey, responses on occupancy were determined by habitat specialization, body size, and longevity. Our findings highlight the importance of indirect pathways through climatic and biotic interactions, which should be included into predictive models to increase accuracy when predicting species’ responses to climate change. Since one might never obtain all mechanistic pathways at the species level, we propose an approach of identifying relevant species traits that help grouping species into functional groups at different ecological levels, which could then be used for predictive modeling. KW - Australia KW - climate change KW - Gekkonidae KW - periodic flooding KW - Scincidae KW - species functional traits KW - species interactions KW - structural equation modeling Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2865 SN - 2150-8925 VL - 10 IS - 9 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Medini, Wided A1 - Farhat, Nejia A1 - Al-Rawi, Shadha A1 - Mahto, Harendra A1 - Qasim, Hadeel A1 - Ben-Halima, Emna A1 - Bessrour, Mouna A1 - Chibani, Farhat A1 - Abdelly, Chedly A1 - Fettke, Jörg A1 - Rabhi, Mokded T1 - Do carbohydrate metabolism and partitioning contribute to the higher salt tolerance of Hordeum marinum compared to Hordeum vulgare? JF - Acta Physiologiae Plantarum N2 - The aim of the present work was to check whether carbohydrate metabolism and partitioning contribute to the higher salt tolerance of the facultative halophyte Hordeum marinum compared to the glycophyte Hordeum vulgare. Seedlings with the same size from the two species were hydroponically grown at 0 (control), 150, and 300 mM NaCl for 3 weeks. H. marinum maintained higher relative growth rate, which was concomitant with a higher aptitude to maintain better shoot tissue hydration and membrane integrity under saline conditions compared to H. vulgare. Gas exchanges were reduced in the two species under saline conditions, but an increase in their water use efficiency was recorded. H. marinum exhibited an increase in leaf soluble sugar concentrations under saline conditions together with an enhancement in the transglucosidase DPE2 (EC 2.4.1.25) activity at 300 mM NaCl. However, H. vulgare showed a high increase in starch phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) activity under saline conditions together with a decrease in leaf glucose and starch concentrations at 300 mM NaCl. In roots, both species accumulated glucose and fructose at 150 mM NaCl, but H. marinum exhibited a marked decrease in soluble sugar concentrations and an increase in starch concentration at 300 mM NaCl. Our data constitute an initiation to the involvement of carbohydrate metabolism and partitioning in salt responses of barley species and further work is necessary to elucidate how their flexibility confers higher tolerance to H. marinum compared to H. vulgare. KW - Cultivated barley KW - DPE2 KW - Flexibility KW - Pho1 KW - Pho2 KW - Sea barley Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2983-x SN - 0137-5881 SN - 1861-1664 VL - 41 IS - 12 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kagel, Heike A1 - Bier, Frank Fabian A1 - Frohme, Marcus A1 - Glökler, Jörn F. T1 - A Novel Optical Method To Reversibly Control Enzymatic Activity Based On Photoacids JF - Scientific reports N2 - Most biochemical reactions depend on the pH value of the aqueous environment and some are strongly favoured to occur in an acidic environment. A non-invasive control of pH to tightly regulate such reactions with defined start and end points is a highly desirable feature in certain applications, but has proven difficult to achieve so far. We report a novel optical approach to reversibly control a typical biochemical reaction by changing the pH and using acid phosphatase as a model enzyme. The reversible photoacid G-acid functions as a proton donor, changing the pH rapidly and reversibly by using high power UV LEDs as an illumination source in our experimental setup. The reaction can be tightly controlled by simply switching the light on and off and should be applicable to a wide range of other enzymatic reactions, thus enabling miniaturization and parallelization through non-invasive optical means. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50867-w SN - 2045-2322 VL - 9 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chapman, Eric M. A1 - Lant, Benjamin A1 - Ohashi, Yota A1 - Yu, Bin A1 - Schertzberg, Michael A1 - Go, Christopher A1 - Dogra, Deepika A1 - Koskimaki, Janne A1 - Girard, Romuald A1 - Li, Yan A1 - Fraser, Andrew G. A1 - Awad, Issam A. A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim A1 - Gingras, Anne-Claude A1 - Derry, William Brent T1 - A conserved CCM complex promotes apoptosis non-autonomously by regulating zinc homeostasis JF - Nature Communications N2 - Apoptotic death of cells damaged by genotoxic stress requires regulatory input from surrounding tissues. The C. elegans scaffold protein KRI-1, ortholog of mammalian KRIT1/CCM1, permits DNA damage-induced apoptosis of cells in the germline by an unknown cell non-autonomous mechanism. We reveal that KRI-1 exists in a complex with CCM-2 in the intestine to negatively regulate the ERK-5/MAPK pathway. This allows the KLF-3 transcription factor to facilitate expression of the SLC39 zinc transporter gene zipt-2.3, which functions to sequester zinc in the intestine. Ablation of KRI-1 results in reduced zinc sequestration in the intestine, inhibition of IR-induced MPK-1/ERK1 activation, and apoptosis in the germline. Zinc localization is also perturbed in the vasculature of krit1(-/-) zebrafish, and SLC39 zinc transporters are mis-expressed in Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCM) patient tissues. This study provides new insights into the regulation of apoptosis by cross-tissue communication, and suggests a link between zinc localization and CCM disease. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09829-z SN - 2041-1723 VL - 10 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Demal, Till Joscha A1 - Heise, Melina A1 - Reiz, Benedikt A1 - Dogra, Deepika A1 - Braenne, Ingrid A1 - Reichenspurner, Hermann A1 - Männer, Jörg A1 - Aherrahrou, Zouhair A1 - Schunkert, Heribert A1 - Erdmann, Jeanette A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim T1 - A familial congenital heart disease with a possible multigenic origin involving a mutation in BMPR1A JF - Scientific reports N2 - The genetics of many congenital heart diseases (CHDs) can only unsatisfactorily be explained by known chromosomal or Mendelian syndromes. Here, we present sequencing data of a family with a potentially multigenic origin of CHD. Twelve of nineteen family members carry a familial mutation [NM_004329.2:c.1328 G > A (p.R443H)] which encodes a predicted deleterious variant of BMPR1A. This mutation co-segregates with a linkage region on chromosome 1 that associates with the emergence of severe CHDs including Ebstein’s anomaly, atrioventricular septal defect, and others. We show that the continuous overexpression of the zebrafish homologous mutation bmpr1aap.R438H within endocardium causes a reduced AV valve area, a downregulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signalling at the AV canal, and growth of additional tissue mass in adult zebrafish hearts. This finding opens the possibility of testing genetic interactions between BMPR1A and other candidate genes within linkage region 1 which may provide a first step towards unravelling more complex genetic patterns in cardiovascular disease aetiology. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39648-7 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 9 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bornhorst, Dorothee A1 - Xia, Peng A1 - Nakajima, Hiroyuki A1 - Dingare, Chaitanya A1 - Herzog, Wiebke A1 - Lecaudey, Virginie A1 - Mochizuki, Naoki A1 - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp A1 - Yelon, Deborah A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim T1 - Biomechanical signaling within the developing zebrafish heart attunes endocardial growth to myocardial chamber dimensions JF - Nature Communications N2 - Intra-organ communication guides morphogenetic processes that are essential for an organ to carry out complex physiological functions. In the heart, the growth of the myocardium is tightly coupled to that of the endocardium, a specialized endothelial tissue that lines its interior. Several molecular pathways have been implicated in the communication between these tissues including secreted factors, components of the extracellular matrix, or proteins involved in cell-cell communication. Yet, it is unknown how the growth of the endocardium is coordinated with that of the myocardium. Here, we show that an increased expansion of the myocardial atrial chamber volume generates higher junctional forces within endocardial cells. This leads to biomechanical signaling involving VE-cadherin, triggering nuclear localization of the Hippo pathway transcriptional regulator Yap1 and endocardial proliferation. Our work suggests that the growth of the endocardium results from myocardial chamber volume expansion and ends when the tension on the tissue is relaxed. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12068-x SN - 2041-1723 VL - 10 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tang, Alan T. A1 - Sullivan, Katie Rose A1 - Hong, Courtney C. A1 - Goddard, Lauren M. A1 - Mahadevan, Aparna A1 - Ren, Aileen A1 - Pardo, Heidy A1 - Peiper, Amy A1 - Griffin, Erin A1 - Tanes, Ceylan A1 - Mattei, Lisa M. A1 - Yang, Jisheng A1 - Li, Li A1 - Mericko-Ishizuka, Patricia A1 - Shen, Le A1 - Hobson, Nicholas A1 - Girard, Romuald A1 - Lightle, Rhonda A1 - Moore, Thomas A1 - Shenkar, Robert A1 - Polster, Sean P. A1 - Roedel, Claudia Jasmin A1 - Li, Ning A1 - Zhu, Qin A1 - Whitehead, Kevin J. A1 - Zheng, Xiangjian A1 - Akers, Amy A1 - Morrison, Leslie A1 - Kim, Helen A1 - Bittinger, Kyle A1 - Lengner, Christopher J. A1 - Schwaninger, Markus A1 - Velcich, Anna A1 - Augenlicht, Leonard A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim A1 - Min, Wang A1 - Marchuk, Douglas A. A1 - Awad, Issam A. A1 - Kahn, Mark L. T1 - Distinct cellular roles for PDCD10 define a gut-brain axis in cerebral cavernous malformation JF - Science Translational Medicine N2 - Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is a genetic, cerebrovascular disease. Familial CCM is caused by genetic mutations in KRIT1, CCM2, or PDCD10. Disease onset is earlier and more severe in individuals with PDCD10 mutations. Recent studies have shown that lesions arise from excess mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) signaling downstream of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) stimulation by lipopolysaccharide derived from the gut microbiome. These findings suggest a gut-brain CCM disease axis but fail to define it or explain the poor prognosis of patients with PDCD10 mutations. Here, we demonstrate that the gut barrier is a primary determinant of CCM disease course, independent of microbiome configuration, that explains the increased severity of CCM disease associated with PDCD10 deficiency. Chemical disruption of the gut barrier with dextran sulfate sodium augments CCM formation in a mouse model, as does genetic loss of Pdcd10, but not Krit1, in gut epithelial cells. Loss of gut epithelial Pdcd10 results in disruption of the colonic mucosal barrier. Accordingly, loss of Mucin-2 or exposure to dietary emulsifiers that reduce the mucus barrier increases CCM burden analogous to loss of Pdcd10 in the gut epithelium. Last, we show that treatment with dexamethasone potently inhibits CCM formation in mice because of the combined effect of action at both brain endothelial cells and gut epithelial cells. These studies define a gut-brain disease axis in an experimental model of CCM in which a single gene is required for two critical components: gut epithelial function and brain endothelial signaling. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aaw3521 SN - 1946-6234 SN - 1946-6242 VL - 11 IS - 520 PB - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lombardo, Verónica A. A1 - Heise, Melina A1 - Moghtadaei, Motahareh A1 - Bornhorst, Dorothee A1 - Männer, Jörg A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim T1 - Morphogenetic control of zebrafish cardiac looping by Bmp signaling JF - Development : Company of Biologists N2 - Cardiac looping is an essential and highly conserved morphogenetic process that places the different regions of the developing vertebrate heart tube into proximity of their final topographical positions. High-resolution 4D live imaging of mosaically labelled cardiomyocytes reveals distinct cardiomyocyte behaviors that contribute to the deformation of the entire heart tube. Cardiomyocytes acquire a conical cell shape, which is most pronounced at the superior wall of the atrioventricular canal and contributes to S-shaped bending. Torsional deformation close to the outflow tract contributes to a torque-like winding of the entire heart tube between its two poles. Anisotropic growth of cardiomyocytes based on their positions reinforces S-shaping of the heart. During cardiac looping, bone morphogenetic protein pathway signaling is strongest at the future superior wall of the atrioventricular canal. Upon pharmacological or genetic inhibition of bone morphogenetic protein signaling, myocardial cells at the superior wall of the atrioventricular canal maintain cuboidal cell shapes and S-shaped bending is impaired. This description of cellular rearrangements and cardiac looping regulation may also be relevant for understanding the etiology of human congenital heart defects. KW - BMP KW - Wnt KW - Cardiac looping KW - Hemodynamics KW - Zebrafish Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.180091 SN - 0950-1991 SN - 1477-9129 VL - 146 IS - 22 PB - The Company of Biologists Ltd CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rödel, Claudia Jasmin A1 - Otten, Cecile A1 - Donat, Stefan A1 - Lourenço, Marta Sofia Rocha A1 - Fischer, Dorothea A1 - Kuropka, Benno A1 - Paolini, Alessio A1 - Freund, Christian A1 - Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim T1 - Blood Flow Suppresses Vascular Anomalies in a Zebrafish Model of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations JF - Circulation Research N2 - RATIONALE: Pathological biomechanical signaling induces vascular anomalies including cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM), which are caused by a clonal loss of CCM1/KRIT1 (Krev interaction trapped protein 1), CCM2/MGC4607, or CCM3/PDCD10. Why patients typically experience lesions only in lowly perfused venous capillaries of the cerebrovasculature is completely unknown. OBJECTIVE: In contrast, animal models with a complete loss of CCM proteins lack a functional heart and blood flow and exhibit vascular anomalies within major blood vessels as well. This finding raises the possibility that hemodynamics may play a role in the context of this vascular pathology. METHODS AND RESULTS: Here, we used a genetic approach to restore cardiac function and blood flow in a zebrafish model of CCM1. We find that blood flow prevents cardiovascular anomalies including a hyperplastic expansion within a large Ccm1-deficient vascular bed, the lateral dorsal aorta. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies blood flow as an important physiological factor that is protective in the cause of this devastating vascular pathology. KW - animal models KW - cerebral cavernous malformations KW - endothelial cell KW - hemodynamics KW - zebrafish Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.315076 SN - 0009-7330 SN - 1524-4571 VL - 125 IS - 10 SP - E43 EP - E54 PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Olas, Justyna Jadwiga A1 - Wahl, Vanessa T1 - Tissue-specific NIA1 and NIA2 expression in Arabidopsis thaliana JF - Plant Signaling & Behavior N2 - Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for optimal plant growth and ultimately for crop productivity Nitrate serves as the main N source for most plants. Although it seems a well-established fact that nitrate concentration affects flowering, its molecular mode of action in flowering time regulation was poorly understood. We recently found how nitrate, present at the shoot apical meristem (SAM), controls flowering time In this short communication, we present data on the tissue-specific expression patterns of NITRATE REDUCTASE 1 (NIA1) and NIA2 in planta. We show that transcripts of both genes are present throughout the life cycle of Arabidopsis thaliana plants with NIA1 being predominantly active in leaves and NIA2 in meristematic tissues. KW - Arabidopsis KW - NIA1 KW - NIA2 KW - nitrate assimilation KW - plant development KW - RNA in situ hybridization KW - expression KW - cell KW - and tissue-specificity Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2019.1656035 SN - 1559-2316 SN - 1559-2324 VL - 14 IS - 11 PB - Taylor & Francis Group CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schälicke, Svenja A1 - Sobisch, Lydia-Yasmin A1 - Martin-Creuzburg, Dominik A1 - Wacker, Alexander T1 - Food quantity-quality co-limitation BT - interactive effects of dietary carbon and essential lipid supply on population growth of a freshwater rotifer JF - Freshwater biology N2 - Food quantity and quality are highly variable in natural systems. Therefore, their interplay and the associated effects on consumer population growth are important for predator-prey interactions and community dynamics. Experiments in which consumers were exposed to elemental nutrient limitations along food quantity gradients suggest that food quality effects on consumer performance are relevant only at high food quantities. However, elemental nutrients act differently on physiological processes than biochemical nutrients. So far, the interactive effects of food quantity and biochemical compounds on consumer performance have been insufficiently studied. We studied interactive effects of food quantity and biochemical food quality on population growth, including fecundity and survival, of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. We hypothesised that these life history traits are differently affected by the availability of biochemical nutrients and that food quality effects gain importance with increasing food quantity. In a first experiment, we established food quantity and quality gradients by providing rotifers with different concentrations of a low-quality food, the sterol-free cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, supplemented with increasing amounts of cholesterol. In a second experiment, food quantity and quality gradients were established by providing different proportions of two prey species differing in biochemical food quality, i.e. S.elongatus and the lipid-rich alga Nannochloropsis limnetica, at different total food concentrations. We found that the effects of cholesterol supplementation on population growth increased with increasing food quantity. This interactive effect on population growth was mainly due to food quality effects on fecundity, as effects on survival remained constant along the food quantity gradient. In contrast, when feeding on the mixed algal diet, the food quality effect associated with increasing the proportion of the high-quality alga did not change along the food quantity gradient. The data on survival and fecundity demonstrate the missing interactive effect of food quantity and quality on population growth, as both traits were oppositely affected. Survival was affected by food quality primarily at low food quantity, whereas food quality effects on fecundity were stronger at high food quantity. Our results highlight the significance of essential biochemicals in mediating the interactive effects of food quantity and quality on population growth. The interplay between food quantity and biochemical food quality limitation seems to influence resource allocation patterns in order to optimise survival or reproduction, which may strongly affect population dynamics in variable environments. As opposed to exploring the function of a single nutrient via supplementation, using algae mixtures allowed us to assess food quality effects on consumer performance in a more natural context by taking potential interactive effects of multiple co-limiting nutrients into account. KW - Brachionus calyciflorus KW - fecundity KW - population growth rate KW - sterols KW - survival Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13272 SN - 0046-5070 SN - 1365-2427 VL - 64 IS - 5 SP - 903 EP - 912 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Deng, Zijun A1 - Zou, Jie A1 - Wang, Weiwei A1 - Nie, Yan A1 - Tung, Wing-Tai A1 - Ma, Nan A1 - Lendlein, Andreas T1 - Dedifferentiation of mature adipocytes with periodic exposure to cold JF - Clinical hemorheology and microcirculation : blood flow and vessels N2 - Lipid-containing adipocytes can dedifferentiate into fibroblast-like cells under appropriate culture conditions, which are known as dedifferentiated fat (DFAT) cells. However, the relative low dedifferentiation efficiency with the established protocols limit their widespread applications. In this study, we found that adipocyte dedifferentiation could be promoted via periodic exposure to cold (10 degrees C) in vitro. The lipid droplets in mature adipocytes were reduced by culturing the cells in periodic cooling/heating cycles (10-37 degrees C) for one week. The periodic temperature change led to the down-regulation of the adipogenic genes (FABP4, Leptin) and up-regulation of the mitochondrial uncoupling related genes (UCP1, PGC-1 alpha, and PRDM16). In addition, the enhanced expression of the cell proliferation marker Ki67 was observed in the dedifferentiated fibroblast-like cells after periodic exposure to cold, as compared to the cells cultured in 37 degrees C. Our in vitro model provides a simple and effective approach to promote lipolysis and can be used to improve the dedifferentiation efficiency of adipocytes towards multipotent DFAT cells. KW - Adipocyte KW - dedifferentiation KW - cold KW - lipid Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3233/CH-199005 SN - 1386-0291 SN - 1875-8622 VL - 71 IS - 4 SP - 415 EP - 424 PB - IOS Press CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Einum, Sigurd A1 - Fossen, Erlend I. F. A1 - Parry, Victor A1 - Pelabon, Christophe T1 - Genetic variation in metabolic rate and correlations with other energy budget components and life history in Daphnia magna JF - Evolutionary Biology N2 - Much is known about the genetic variance in certain components of metabolism, most notably resting and maximum metabolic rate. This is in stark contrast to the lack of information on genetic variance in the metabolic rate of individuals that feed and express routine activity, and how this rate correlates with other components of the energy budget or life history traits. Here we quantify genetic variance in metabolic rate (MR) under such conditions, as well as food consumption, juvenile somatic growth rate and age at maturation under ad lib food availability in a set of 10 clones of Daphnia magna from a natural population. Broad sense evolvabilities (0.16 0.56%) were on the same order of magnitude as those typically observed for physiological and life history traits, and suggest that all these traits have the potential to evolve within this population. We did not find support for the previously hypothesized positive genetic correlation between metabolic rate and growth rate. Rather, the patterns of genetic correlations suggest that genetic variance in food consumption is the single most influential trait shaping somatic growth rate, but that additional variance in growth can be explained by considering the joint effect of consumption and MR. The genetic variance in consumption and MR also translated into genetic variance in age at maturation, creating a direct link between these energy budget components and a life history trait with strong fitness effects. Moreover, a weak positive correlation between MR and food consumption suggests the presence of substantial amounts of independent genetic control of these traits, consistent with results obtained using genomic approaches. KW - Respiration KW - Food intake KW - Feeding rate KW - Heritability KW - Gross growth efficiency KW - Assimilation efficiency KW - Specific dynamic action Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-019-09473-x SN - 0071-3260 SN - 1934-2845 VL - 46 IS - 2 SP - 170 EP - 178 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bhuvanesh, Thanga A1 - Machatschek, Rainhard Gabriel A1 - Lysyakova, Liudmila A1 - Kratz, Karl A1 - Schulz, Burkhard A1 - Ma, Nan A1 - Lendlein, Andreas T1 - Collagen type-IV Langmuir and Langmuir-Schafer layers as model biointerfaces to direct stem cell adhesion JF - Biomedical materials : materials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine N2 - In biomaterial development, the design of material surfaces that mimic the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) in order to achieve favorable cellular instruction is rather challenging. Collagen-type IV (Col-IV), the major scaffolding component of Basement Membranes (BM), a specialized ECM with multiple biological functions, has the propensity to form networks by self-assembly and supports adhesion of cells such as endothelial cells or stem cells. The preparation of biomimetic Col-IV network-like layers to direct cell responses is difficult. We hypothesize that the morphology of the layer, and especially the density of the available adhesion sites, regulates the cellular adhesion to the layer. The Langmuir monolayer technique allows for preparation of thin layers with precisely controlled packing density at the air-water (A-W) interface. Transferring these layers onto cell culture substrates using the Langmuir-Schafer (LS) technique should therefore provide a pathway for preparation of BM mimicking layers with controlled cell adherence properties. In situ characterization using ellipsometry and polarization modulation-infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy of Col-IV layer during compression at the A-W interface reveal that there is linear increase of surface molecule concentration with negligible orientational changes up to a surface pressure of 25 mN m(-1). Smooth and homogeneous Col-IV network-like layers are successfully transferred by LS method at 15 mN m(-1) onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), which is a common substrate for cell culture. In contrast, the organization of Col-IV on PET prepared by the traditionally employed solution deposition method results in rather inhomogeneous layers with the appearance of aggregates and multilayers. Progressive increase in the number of early adherent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after 24 h by controlling the areal Col-IV density by LS transfer at 10, 15 and 20 mN m(-1) on PET is shown. The LS method offers the possibility to control protein characteristics on biomaterial surfaces such as molecular density and thereby, modulate cell responses. KW - collagen-IV KW - basement membrane KW - Langmuir-Schafer films KW - stem cell adhesion KW - protein KW - ellipsometry Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-605X/aaf464 SN - 1748-6041 SN - 1748-605X VL - 14 IS - 2 PB - Inst. of Physics Publ. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Veh, Georg A1 - Korup, Oliver A1 - Walz, Ariane T1 - Hazard from Himalayan glacier lake outburst floods JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America : PNAS N2 - Sustained glacier melt in the Himalayas has gradually spawned more than 5,000 glacier lakes that are dammed by potentially unstable moraines. When such dams break, glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) can cause catastrophic societal and geomorphic impacts. We present a robust probabilistic estimate of average GLOFs return periods in the Himalayan region, drawing on 5.4 billion simulations. We find that the 100-y outburst flood has an average volume of 33.5(+3.7)/(-3.7) x 10(6) m(3) (posterior mean and 95% highest density interval [HDI]) with a peak discharge of 15,600(+2.000)/(-1,800) m(3).S-1. Our estimated GLOF hazard is tied to the rate of historic lake outbursts and the number of present lakes, which both are highest in the Eastern Himalayas. There, the estimated 100-y GLOF discharge (similar to 14,500 m(3).s(-1)) is more than 3 times that of the adjacent Nyainqentanglha Mountains, and at least an order of magnitude higher than in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Western Himalayas. The GLOF hazard may increase in these regions that currently have large glaciers, but few lakes, if future projected ice loss generates more unstable moraine-dammed lakes than we recognize today. Flood peaks from GLOFs mostly attenuate within Himalayan headwaters, but can rival monsoon-fed discharges in major rivers hundreds to thousands of kilometers downstream. Projections of future hazard from meteorological floods need to account for the extreme runoffs during lake outbursts, given the increasing trends in population, infrastructure, and hydropower projects in Himalayan headwaters. KW - atmospheric warming KW - meltwater lakes KW - GLOF KW - extreme-value statistics KW - Bayesian modeling Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914898117 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 117 IS - 2 SP - 907 EP - 912 PB - National Academy of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwarz, Maria A1 - Lossow, Kristina A1 - Kopp, Johannes Florian A1 - Schwerdtle, Tanja A1 - Kipp, Anna Patricia T1 - Crosstalk of Nrf2 with the Trace Elements Selenium, Iron, Zinc, and Copper JF - Nutrients N2 - Trace elements, like Cu, Zn, Fe, or Se, are important for the proper functioning of antioxidant enzymes. However, in excessive amounts, they can also act as pro-oxidants. Accordingly, trace elements influence redox-modulated signaling pathways, such as the Nrf2 pathway. Vice versa, Nrf2 target genes belong to the group of transport and metal binding proteins. In order to investigate whether Nrf2 directly regulates the systemic trace element status, we used mice to study the effect of a constitutive, whole-body Nrf2 knockout on the systemic status of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Se. As the loss of selenoproteins under Se-deprived conditions has been described to further enhance Nrf2 activity, we additionally analyzed the combination of Nrf2 knockout with feeding diets that provide either suboptimal, adequate, or supplemented amounts of Se. Experiments revealed that the Nrf2 knockout partially affected the trace element concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, or Se in the intestine, liver, and/or plasma. However, aside from Fe, the other three trace elements were only marginally modulated in an Nrf2-dependent manner. Selenium deficiency mainly resulted in increased plasma Zn levels. One putative mediator could be the metal regulatory transcription factor 1, which was up-regulated with an increasing Se supply and downregulated in Se-supplemented Nrf2 knockout mice. KW - Nrf2 KW - selenium KW - iron KW - copper KW - zinc KW - homeostasis Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11092112 SN - 2072-6643 VL - 11 IS - 9 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blasius, Bernd A1 - Rudolf, Lars A1 - Weithoff, Guntram A1 - Gaedke, Ursula A1 - Fussmann, Gregor F. T1 - Long-term cyclic persistence in an experimental predator-prey system JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science N2 - Predator-prey cycles rank among the most fundamental concepts in ecology, are predicted by the simplest ecological models and enable, theoretically, the indefinite persistence of predator and prey(1-4). However, it remains an open question for how long cyclic dynamics can be self-sustained in real communities. Field observations have been restricted to a few cycle periods(5-8) and experimental studies indicate that oscillations may be short-lived without external stabilizing factors(9-19). Here we performed microcosm experiments with a planktonic predator-prey system and repeatedly observed oscillatory time series of unprecedented length that persisted for up to around 50 cycles or approximately 300 predator generations. The dominant type of dynamics was characterized by regular, coherent oscillations with a nearly constant predator-prey phase difference. Despite constant experimental conditions, we also observed shorter episodes of irregular, non-coherent oscillations without any significant phase relationship. However, the predator-prey system showed a strong tendency to return to the dominant dynamical regime with a defined phase relationship. A mathematical model suggests that stochasticity is probably responsible for the reversible shift from coherent to non-coherent oscillations, a notion that was supported by experiments with external forcing by pulsed nutrient supply. Our findings empirically demonstrate the potential for infinite persistence of predator and prey populations in a cyclic dynamic regime that shows resilience in the presence of stochastic events. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1857-0 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 577 IS - 7789 SP - 226 EP - 230 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Broeker, Nina K. A1 - Roske, Yvette A1 - Valleriani, Angelo A1 - Stephan, Mareike Sophia A1 - Andres, Dorothee A1 - Koetz, Joachim A1 - Heinemann, Udo A1 - Barbirz, Stefanie T1 - Time-resolved DNA release from an O-antigen-specific Salmonella bacteriophage with a contractile tail JF - The journal of biological chemistry N2 - Myoviruses, bacteriophages with T4-like architecture, must contract their tails prior to DNA release. However, quantitative kinetic data on myovirus particle opening are lacking, although they are promising tools in bacteriophage-based antimicrobial strategies directed against Gram-negative hosts. For the first time, we show time-resolved DNA ejection from a bacteriophage with a contractile tail, the multi-O-antigen-specific Salmonella myovirus Det7. DNA release from Det7 was triggered by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen receptors and notably slower than in noncontractile-tailed siphoviruses. Det7 showed two individual kinetic steps for tail contraction and particle opening. Our in vitro studies showed that highly specialized tailspike proteins (TSPs) are necessary to attach the particle to LPS. A P22-like TSP confers specificity for the Salmonella Typhimurium O-antigen. Moreover, crystal structure analysis at 1.63 angstrom resolution confirmed that Det7 recognized the Salmonella Anatum O-antigen via an E15-like TSP, DettilonTSP. DNA ejection triggered by LPS from either host showed similar velocities, so particle opening is thus a process independent of O-antigen composition and the recognizing TSP. In Det7, at permissive temperatures TSPs mediate O-antigen cleavage and couple cell surface binding with DNA ejection, but no irreversible adsorption occurred at low temperatures. This finding was in contrast to short-tailed Salmonella podoviruses, illustrating that tailed phages use common particle-opening mechanisms but have specialized into different infection niches. KW - bacteriophage KW - lipopolysaccharide (YLPS) KW - structural biology KW - DNA viruses KW - glycobiology KW - fluorescence KW - Salmonella enterica KW - contractile tail KW - DNA ejection KW - O-antigen specificity KW - Salmonella myovirus KW - tailspike protein KW - molecular machine Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA119.008133 SN - 1083-351X VL - 294 IS - 31 SP - 11751 EP - 11761 PB - American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology CY - Bethesda ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Signore, Anthony V. A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Fago, Angela A1 - Weber, Roy E. A1 - Springer, Mark S. A1 - Campbell, Kevin L. T1 - Emergence of a chimeric globin pseudogene and increased Hemoglobin Oxygen Affinity Underlie the evolution of aquatic specializations in Sirenia JF - Molecular biology and evolution N2 - As limits on O2 availability during submergence impose severe constraints on aerobic respiration, the oxygen binding globin proteins of marine mammals are expected to have evolved under strong evolutionary pressures during their land-to-sea transition. Here, we address this question for the order Sirenia by retrieving, annotating, and performing detailed selection analyses on the globin repertoire of the extinct Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), dugong (Dugong dugon), and Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) in relation to their closest living terrestrial relatives (elephants and hyraxes). These analyses indicate most loci experienced elevated nucleotide substitution rates during their transition to a fully aquatic lifestyle. While most of these genes evolved under neutrality or strong purifying selection, the rate of nonsynonymous/synonymous replacements increased in two genes (Hbz-T1 and Hba-T1) that encode the α-type chains of hemoglobin (Hb) during each stage of life. Notably, the relaxed evolution of Hba-T1 is temporally coupled with the emergence of a chimeric pseudogene (Hba-T2/Hbq-ps) that contributed to the tandemly linked Hba-T1 of stem sirenians via interparalog gene conversion. Functional tests on recombinant Hb proteins from extant and ancestral sirenians further revealed that the molecular remodeling of Hba-T1 coincided with increased Hb–O2 affinity in early sirenians. Available evidence suggests that this trait evolved to maximize O2 extraction from finite lung stores and suppress tissue O2 offloading, thereby facilitating the low metabolic intensities of extant sirenians. In contrast, the derived reduction in Hb–O2 affinity in (sub)Arctic Steller’s sea cows is consistent with fueling increased thermogenesis by these once colossal marine herbivores. KW - ancient DNA KW - aquatic adaptation KW - gene conversion KW - hemoglobin KW - oxygen affinity KW - molecular evolution KW - myoglobin KW - neuroglobin KW - cytoglobin KW - pseudogene Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz044 SN - 0737-4038 SN - 1537-1719 VL - 36 IS - 6 SP - 1134 EP - 1147 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gonzalez-Fortes, Gloria M. A1 - Tassi, F. A1 - Trucchi, E. A1 - Henneberger, K. A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Diez-del-Molino, D. A1 - Schroeder, H. A1 - Susca, R. R. A1 - Barroso-Ruiz, C. A1 - Bermudez, F. J. A1 - Barroso-Medina, C. A1 - Bettencourt, A. M. S. A1 - Sampaio, H. A. A1 - Salas, A. A1 - de Lombera-Hermida, A. A1 - Fabregas Valcarce, Ramón A1 - Vaquero, M. A1 - Alonso, S. A1 - Lozano, Marina A1 - Rodriguez-Alvarez, Xose Pedro A1 - Fernandez-Rodriguez, C. A1 - Manica, Andrea A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Barbujani, Guido T1 - A western route of prehistoric human migration from Africa into the Iberian Peninsula JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - Being at the western fringe of Europe, Iberia had a peculiar prehistory and a complex pattern of Neolithization. A few studies, all based on modern populations, reported the presence of DNA of likely African origin in this region, generally concluding it was the result of recent gene flow, probably during the Islamic period. Here, we provide evidence of much older gene flow from Africa to Iberia by sequencing whole genomes from four human remains from northern Portugal and southern Spain dated around 4000 years BP (from the Middle Neolithic to the Bronze Age). We found one of them to carry an unequivocal sub-Saharan mitogenome of most probably West or West-Central African origin, to our knowledge never reported before in prehistoric remains outside Africa. Our analyses of ancient nuclear genomes show small but significant levels of sub-Saharan African affinity in several ancient Iberian samples, which indicates that what we detected was not an occasional individual phenomenon, but an admixture event recognizable at the population level. We interpret this result as evidence of an early migration process from Africa into the Iberian Peninsula through a western route, possibly across the Strait of Gibraltar. KW - palaeogenome KW - Africa KW - Iberia KW - mitochondrial DNA KW - gene flow KW - admixture Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2288 SN - 0962-8452 SN - 1471-2954 VL - 286 IS - 1895 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sheng, Gui-Lian A1 - Basler, Nikolas A1 - Ji, Xue-Ping A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Alberti, Federica A1 - Preick, Michaela A1 - Hartmann, Stefanie A1 - Westbury, Michael V. A1 - Yuan, Jun-Xia A1 - Jablonski, Nina G. A1 - Xenikoudakis, Georgios A1 - Hou, Xin-Dong A1 - Xiao, Bo A1 - Liu, Jian-Hui A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Lai, Xu-Long A1 - Barlow, Axel T1 - Paleogenome reveals genetic contribution of extinct giant panda to extant populations JF - Current biology N2 - Historically, the giant panda was widely distributed from northern China to southwestern Asia [1]. As a result of range contraction and fragmentation, extant individuals are currently restricted to fragmented mountain ranges on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, where they are distributed among three major population clusters [2]. However, little is known about the genetic consequences of this dramatic range contraction. For example, were regions where giant pandas previously existed occupied by ancestors of present-day populations, or were these regions occupied by genetically distinct populations that are now extinct? If so, is there any contribution of these extinct populations to the genomes of giant pandas living today? To investigate these questions, we sequenced the nuclear genome of an similar to 5,000-year-old giant panda from Jiangdongshan, Teng-chong County in Yunnan Province, China. We find that this individual represents a genetically distinct population that diverged prior to the diversification of modern giant panda populations. We find evidence of differential admixture with this ancient population among modern individuals originating from different populations as well as within the same population. We also find evidence for directional gene flow, which transferred alleles from the ancient population into the modern giant panda lineages. A variable proportion of the genomes of extant individuals is therefore likely derived from the ancient population represented by our sequenced individual. Although extant giant panda populations retain reasonable genetic diversity, our results suggest that this represents only part of the genetic diversity this species harbored prior to its recent range contractions. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.021 SN - 0960-9822 SN - 1879-0445 VL - 29 IS - 10 SP - 1695 EP - 1700 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tabares Jimenez, Ximena del Carmen A1 - Zimmermann, Heike Hildegard A1 - Dietze, Elisabeth A1 - Ratzmann, Gregor A1 - Belz, Lukas A1 - Vieth-Hillebrand, Andrea A1 - Dupont, Lydie A1 - Wilkes, Heinz A1 - Mapani, Benjamin A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Vegetation state changes in the course of shrub encroachment in an African savanna since about 1850 CE and their potential drivers JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Shrub encroachment has far-reaching ecological and economic consequences in many ecosystems worldwide. Yet, compositional changes associated with shrub encroachment are often overlooked despite having important effects on ecosystem functioning. We document the compositional change and potential drivers for a northern Namibian Combretum woodland transitioning into a Terminalia shrubland. We use a multiproxy record (pollen, sedimentary ancient DNA, biomarkers, compound-specific carbon (delta C-13) and deuterium (delta D) isotopes, bulk carbon isotopes (delta(13)Corg), grain size, geochemical properties) from Lake Otjikoto at high taxonomical and temporal resolution. We provide evidence that state changes in semiarid environments may occur on a scale of one century and that transitions between stable states can span around 80 years and are characterized by a unique vegetation composition. We demonstrate that the current grass/woody ratio is exceptional for the last 170 years, as supported by n-alkane distributions and the delta C-13 and delta(13)Corg records. Comparing vegetation records to environmental proxy data and census data, we infer a complex network of global and local drivers of vegetation change. While our delta D record suggests physiological adaptations of woody species to higher atmospheric pCO(2) concentration and drought, our vegetation records reflect the impact of broad-scale logging for the mining industry, and the macrocharcoal record suggests a decrease in fire activity associated with the intensification of farming. Impact of selective grazing is reflected by changes in abundance and taxonomical composition of grasses and by an increase of nonpalatable and trampling-resistant taxa. In addition, grain-size and spore records suggest changes in the erodibility of soils because of reduced grass cover. Synthesis. We conclude that transitions to an encroached savanna state are supported by gradual environmental changes induced by management strategies, which affected the resilience of savanna ecosystems. In addition, feedback mechanisms that reflect the interplay between management legacies and climate change maintain the encroached state. KW - climate change KW - fossil pollen KW - land-use change KW - savanna ecology KW - sedimentary ancient DNA KW - state and transition KW - tree-grass interactions Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5955 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 10 IS - 2 SP - 962 EP - 979 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Luetkecosmann, Steffi A1 - Faupel, Thomas A1 - Porstmann, Silvia A1 - Porstmann, Tomas A1 - Micheel, Burkhard A1 - Hanack, Katja T1 - A cross-reactive monoclonal antibody as universal detection antibody in autoantibody diagnostic assays JF - Clinica chimica acta N2 - Diagnostics of Autoimmune Diseases involve screening of patient samples for containing autoantibodies against various antigens. To ensure quality of diagnostic assays a calibrator is needed in each assay system. Different calibrators as recombinant human monoclonal antibodies as well as chimeric antibodies against the autoantigens of interest are described. A less cost-intensive and also more representative possibility covering different targets on the antigens is the utilization of polyclonal sera from other species. Nevertheless, the detection of human autoantibodies as well as the calibration reagent containing antibodies from other species in one assay constitutes a challenge in terms of assay calibration. We therefore developed a cross-reactive monoclonal antibody which binds human as well as rabbit sera with similar affinities in the nanomolar range. We tested our monoclonal antibody S38CD11B12 successfully in the commercial Serazym (R) Anti-Cardiolipin-beta 2-GPI IgG/IgM assay and could thereby prove the eligibility of S38CD11B12 as detection antibody in autoimmune diagnostic assays using rabbit derived sera as reference material. KW - Monoclonal antibody KW - Detection KW - Autoimmune diagnostics KW - Cross reactivity KW - Assay calibration Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cca.2019.09.003 SN - 0009-8981 SN - 1873-3492 VL - 499 SP - 87 EP - 92 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Schwuchow, Viola T1 - Charakterisierung der periplasmatischen Aldehyd-Oxidoreduktase (PaoABC) aus Escherichia coli N2 - Im Mittelpunkt dieser Arbeit standen Analysen zur Charakterisierung der periplasmatischen Aldehyd Oxidoreduktase aus E. coli. Kinetische Untersuchungen mit Ferricyanid als Elektronenakzeptor unter anaeroben Bedingungen zeigten für dieses Enzym eine höhere Aktivität als unter aeroben Bedingungen. Die getroffene Hypothese, dass PaoABC fähig ist Elektronen an molekularen Sauerstoff weiter zu geben, konnte bestätigt werden. Für den Umsatz aromatischer Aldehyde mit molekularem Sauerstoff wurde ein Optimum von pH 6,0 ermittelt. Dies steht im Gegensatz zur Reaktion mit Ferricyanid, mit welchem ein pH-Optimum von 4,0 gezeigt wurde. Die Reaktion von PaoABC mit molekularem Sauerstoff generiert zwar Wasserstoffperoxid, die Produktion von Superoxid konnte dagegen nicht beobachtet werden. Dass aerobe Bedingungen einen Einfluss auf das Auslösen der Expression von PaoABC haben, wurde in dieser Arbeit ebenfalls ermittelt. Im Zusammenhang mit der Produktion von ROS durch PaoABC wurde die Funktion eines kürzlich in Elektronentransfer-Distanz zum FAD identifizierten [4Fe4S]-Clusters untersucht. Ein Austausch der für die Bindung des Clusters zuständigen Cysteine führte zur Instabilität der Proteinvarianten, weswegen für diese keine weiteren Untersuchungen erfolgten. Daher wird zumindest ein struktur-stabilisierender Einfluss des [4Fe4S]-Clusters angenommen. Zur weiteren Untersuchung der Funktion dieses Clusters, wurde ein zwischen FAD und [4Fe4S]-Cluster lokalisiertes Arginin gegen ein Alanin ausgetauscht. Diese Proteinvariante zeigte eine reduzierte Geschwindigkeit der Reaktion gegenüber dem Wildtyp. Die Bildung von Superoxid konnte auch hier nicht beobachtet werden. Die Vermutung, dass dieser Cluster einen elektronen-sammelnden Mechanismus unterstützt, welcher die Radikalbildung verhindert, kann trotz allem nicht ausgeschlossen werden. Da im Umkreis des Arginins weitere geladene und aromatische Aminosäuren lokalisiert sind, können diese den notwendigen Elektronentransfer übernehmen. Neben der Ermittlung eines physiologischen Elektronenakzeptors und dessen Einfluss auf die Expression von PaoABC zeigt diese Arbeit auch, dass die Chaperone PaoD und MocA während der Reifung des MCD-Kofaktor eine gemeinsame Bindung an PaoABC realisieren. Es konnte im aktiven Zentrum von PaoABC ein Arginin beschrieben werden, welches auf Grund der engen Nachbarschaft zum MCD-Kofaktor und zum Glutamat (PaoABC-EC692) am Prozess der Substratbindung beteiligt ist. Im Zusammenhang mit dem Austausch dieses Arginins gegen ein Histidin oder ein Lysin wurden die Enzymspezifität und der Einfluss physiologischer Bedingungen, wie pH und Ionenstärke, auf die Reaktion des Enzyms untersucht. Gegenüber dem Wildtyp zeigten die Varianten mit molekularem Sauerstoff eine geringere Affinität zum Substrat aber auch eine höhere Geschwindigkeit der Reaktion. Vor allem für die Histidin-Variante konnte im gesamten pH-Bereich ein instabiles Verhalten bestimmt werden. Der Grund dafür wurde durch das Lösen der Struktur der Histidin-Variante beschreiben. Durch den Austausch der Aminosäuren entfällt die stabilisierende Wirkung der delokalisierten Elektronen des Arginins und es kommt zu einer Konformationsänderung im aktiven Zentrum. Neben der Reaktion von PaoABC mit einer Vielzahl aromatischer Aldehyde konnte auch der Umsatz von Salicylaldehyd zu Salicylsäure durch PaoABC in einer Farbreaktion bestimmt werden. Durch Ausschluss von molekularem Sauerstoff als terminaler Elektronenakzeptor, in einer enzym-gekoppelten Reaktion, erfolgte ein Elektronentransport auf Ferrocencarboxylsäure. Die Kombination aus beiden Methoden ermöglichte eine Verwendung von Ferrocen-Derivaten zur Generierung einer enzym-gekoppelten Reaktion mit PaoABC. Die Untersuchungen zu PaoABC zeigen, dass die Vielfalt der durch das Enzym katalysierten Rektionen weitere Möglichkeiten der enzymatischen Bestimmung biokatalytischer Prozesse bietet. KW - Eschericha coli KW - Periplasma KW - Aldehydoxidase KW - Aldehyd KW - Oxidoreduktase KW - Molybdän Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raatz, Michael A1 - van Velzen, Ellen A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Co‐adaptation impacts the robustness of predator–prey dynamics against perturbations JF - Ecology and Evolution N2 - Global change threatens the maintenance of ecosystem functions that are shaped by the persistence and dynamics of populations. It has been shown that the persistence of species increases if they possess larger trait adaptability. Here, we investigate whether trait adaptability also affects the robustness of population dynamics of interacting species and thereby shapes the reliability of ecosystem functions that are driven by these dynamics. We model co‐adaptation in a predator–prey system as changes to predator offense and prey defense due to evolution or phenotypic plasticity. We investigate how trait adaptation affects the robustness of population dynamics against press perturbations to environmental parameters and against pulse perturbations targeting species abundances and their trait values. Robustness of population dynamics is characterized by resilience, elasticity, and resistance. In addition to employing established measures for resilience and elasticity against pulse perturbations (extinction probability and return time), we propose the warping distance as a new measure for resistance against press perturbations, which compares the shapes and amplitudes of pre‐ and post‐perturbation population dynamics. As expected, we find that the robustness of population dynamics depends on the speed of adaptation, but in nontrivial ways. Elasticity increases with speed of adaptation as the system returns more rapidly to the pre‐perturbation state. Resilience, in turn, is enhanced by intermediate speeds of adaptation, as here trait adaptation dampens biomass oscillations. The resistance of population dynamics strongly depends on the target of the press perturbation, preventing a simple relationship with the adaptation speed. In general, we find that low robustness often coincides with high amplitudes of population dynamics. Hence, amplitudes may indicate the robustness against perturbations also in other natural systems with similar dynamics. Our findings show that besides counteracting extinctions, trait adaptation indeed strongly affects the robustness of population dynamics against press and pulse perturbations. KW - disturbance KW - evolutionary rescue KW - population dynamics KW - stability KW - trait adaptation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5006 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 9 IS - 7 SP - 3823 EP - 3836 PB - John Wiley & Sons CY - Hoboken, NJ ER - TY - THES A1 - Luzarowski, Marcin T1 - Development and application of biochemical approaches for characterisation of the protein-protein-metabolite interactome in model organisms' A. thaliana and S. cerevisiae Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - THES A1 - Neumann, Bettina T1 - Bioelectrocatalytic activity of surface-confined heme catalysts BT - from natural enzymes to synthetic analogs Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - THES A1 - Eichelmann, Fabian T1 - Novel adipokines as inflammatory biomarkers of chronic disease risk Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - THES A1 - Schumacher, Julia T1 - Regulation and function of STERILE APETALA in Arabidopsis flower development N2 - STERILE APETALA (SAP) is known to be an essential regulator of flower development for over 20 years. Loss of SAP function in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is associated with a reduction of floral organ number, size and fertility. In accordance with the function of SAP during early flower development, its spatial expression in flowers is confined to meristematic stages and to developing ovules. However, to date, despite extensive research, the molecular function of SAP and the regulation of its spatio-temporal expression still remain elusive. In this work, amino acid sequence analysis and homology modeling revealed that SAP belongs to the rare class of plant F-box proteins with C-terminal WD40 repeats. In opisthokonts, this type of F-box proteins constitutes the substrate binding subunit of SCF complexes, which catalyze the ubiquitination of proteins to initiate their proteasomal degradation. With LC-MS/MS-based protein complex isolation, the interaction of SAP with major SCF complex subunits was confirmed. Additionally, candidate substrate proteins, such as the growth repressor PEAPOD 1 and 2 (PPD1/2), could be revealed during early stages of flower development. Also INDOLE-3-BUTYRIC ACID RESPONSE 5 (IBR5) was identified among putative interactors. Genetic analyses indicated that, different from substrate proteins, IBR5 is required for SAP function. Protein complex isolation together with transcriptome profiling emphasized that the SCFSAP complex integrates multiple biological processes, such as proliferative growth, vascular development, hormonal signaling and reproduction. Phenotypic analysis of sap mutant and SAP overexpressing plants positively correlated SAP function with plant growth during reproductive and vegetative development. Furthermore, to elaborate on the transcriptional regulation of SAP, publicly available ChIP-seq data of key floral homeotic proteins were reanalyzed. Here, it was shown that the MADS-domain transcription factors APETALA 1 (AP1), APETALA 3 (AP3), PISTILLATA (PI), AGAMOUS (AG) and SEPALLATA 3 (SEP3) bind to the SAP locus, which indicates that SAP is expressed in a floral organ-specific manner. Reporter gene analyses in combination with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of putative regulatory regions further demonstrated that the intron contains major regulatory elements of SAP in Arabidopsis thaliana. In conclusion, these data indicate that SAP is a pleiotropic developmental regulator that acts through tissue-specific destabilization of proteins. The presumed transcriptional regulation of SAP by the floral MADS-domain transcription factors could provide a missing link between the specification of floral organ identity and floral organ growth pathways. KW - STERILE APETALA KW - SAP KW - flower development KW - organ size KW - F-box KW - WD40 KW - SCF complex KW - ubiquitin KW - proteasomal degradation KW - MADS Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Porada, Philipp A1 - Tamm, Alexandra A1 - Raggio, Jose A1 - Yafang, Cheng A1 - Kleidon, Axel A1 - Pöschl, Ulrich A1 - Weber, Bettina T1 - Global NO and HONO emissions of biological soil crusts estimated by a process-based non-vascular vegetation model JF - Biogeosciences N2 - The reactive trace gases nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous acid (HONO) are crucial for chemical processes in the atmosphere, including the formation of ozone and OH radicals, oxidation of pollutants, and atmospheric self-cleaning. Recently, empirical studies have shown that biological soil crusts are able to emit large amounts of NO and HONO, and they may therefore play an important role in the global budget of these trace gases. However, the upscaling of local estimates to the global scale is subject to large uncertainties, due to unknown spatial distribution of crust types and their dynamic metabolic activity. Here, we perform an alternative estimate of global NO and HONO emissions by biological soil crusts, using a process-based modelling approach to these organisms, combined with global data sets of climate and land cover. We thereby consider that NO and HONO are emitted in strongly different proportions, depending on the type of crust and their dynamic activity, and we provide a first estimate of the global distribution of four different crust types. Based on this, we estimate global total values of 1.04 Tg yr⁻¹ NO–N and 0.69 Tg yr⁻¹ HONO–N released by biological soil crusts. This corresponds to around 20% of global emissions of these trace gases from natural ecosystems. Due to the low number of observations on NO and HONO emissions suitable to validate the model, our estimates are still relatively uncertain. However, they are consistent with the amount estimated by the empirical approach, which confirms that biological soil crusts are likely to have a strong impact on global atmospheric chemistry via emissions of NO and HONO. KW - net primary productivity KW - hilly loes plateau KW - mojave desert KW - spatial-distribution KW - nitrous-oxide KW - succulent karoo KW - inner-mongolia KW - carbon KW - lichens KW - bryophytes Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2003-2019 SN - 1726-4170 SN - 1726-4189 VL - 16 SP - 2003 EP - 2031 PB - Copernicus Publ. CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Riedel, Simona A1 - Siemiatkowska, Beata A1 - Watanabe, Mutsumi A1 - Müller, Christina S. A1 - Schünemann, Volker A1 - Hoefgen, Rainer A1 - Leimkühler, Silke T1 - The ABCB7-Like Transporter PexA in Rhodobacter capsulatus Is Involved in the Translocation of Reactive Sulfur Species JF - Frontiers in Microbiology N2 - The mitochondrial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters ABCB7 in humans, Atm1 in yeast and ATM3 in plants, are highly conserved in their overall architecture and particularly in their glutathione binding pocket located within the transmembrane spanning domains. These transporters have attracted interest in the last two decades based on their proposed role in connecting the mitochondrial iron sulfur (Fe–S) cluster assembly with its cytosolic Fe–S cluster assembly (CIA) counterpart. So far, the specific compound that is transported across the membrane remains unknown. In this report we characterized the ABCB7-like transporter Rcc02305 in Rhodobacter capsulatus, which shares 47% amino acid sequence identity with its mitochondrial counterpart. The constructed interposon mutant strain in R. capsulatus displayed increased levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species without a simultaneous accumulation of the cellular iron levels. The inhibition of endogenous glutathione biosynthesis resulted in an increase of total glutathione levels in the mutant strain. Bioinformatic analysis of the amino acid sequence motifs revealed a potential aminotransferase class-V pyridoxal-50-phosphate (PLP) binding site that overlaps with the Walker A motif within the nucleotide binding domains of the transporter. PLP is a well characterized cofactor of L-cysteine desulfurases like IscS and NFS1 which has a role in the formation of a protein-bound persulfide group within these proteins. We therefore suggest renaming the ABCB7-like transporter Rcc02305 in R. capsulatus to PexA for PLP binding exporter. We further suggest that this ABC-transporter in R. capsulatus is involved in the formation and export of polysulfide species to the periplasm. KW - ABCB7 KW - persulfide KW - polysulfide KW - glutathione KW - ABC transporter KW - Walker A motif KW - pyridoxal-50-phosphate Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00406 SN - 1664-302X VL - 10 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - THES A1 - Zhang, Xiaorong T1 - Electrosynthesis and characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers for peptides and proteins Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dahmani, Ismail A1 - Ludwig, Kai A1 - Chiantia, Salvatore T1 - Influenza A matrix protein M1 induces lipid membrane deformation via protein multimerization JF - Bioscience Reports N2 - The matrix protein M1 of the Influenza A virus (IAV) is supposed to mediate viral assembly and budding at the plasma membrane (PM) of infected cells. In order for a new viral particle to form, the PM lipid bilayer has to bend into a vesicle toward the extracellular side. Studies in cellular models have proposed that different viral proteins might be responsible for inducing membrane curvature in this context (including M1), but a clear consensus has not been reached. In the present study, we use a combination of fluorescence microscopy, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (sFCS) to investigate M1-induced membrane deformation in biophysical models of the PM. Our results indicate that M1 is indeed able to cause membrane curvature in lipid bilayers containing negatively charged lipids, in the absence of other viral components. Furthermore, we prove that protein binding is not sufficient to induce membrane restructuring. Rather, it appears that stable M1–M1 interactions and multimer formation are required in order to alter the bilayer three-dimensional structure, through the formation of a protein scaffold. Finally, our results suggest that, in a physiological context,M1-induced membrane deformation might be modulated by the initial bilayer curvature and the lateral organization of membrane components (i.e. the presence of lipid domains). KW - confocal microscopy KW - influenza KW - lipid membranes KW - membranes KW - protein-protein interactions KW - viral matrix proteins Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20191024 SN - 0144-8463 SN - 1573-4935 VL - 39 IS - 8 PB - Portland Press CY - Colchester ER - TY - THES A1 - Vandrich, Jasmina T1 - Metabolic Engineering in Halomonas elongata Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - THES A1 - Gaballa, Mohamed Mahmoud Salem Ahmed T1 - New pharmacological approaches targeting vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease BT - Anti-BSP antibody in a rat model of uremic calification T2 - Neue pharmakologische Ansätze in der Behandlung der vaskulären Kalzifizierung bei chronischen Nierenerkrankungen: Anti-BSP-Antikörper in einem Rattenmodell der urämischen Verkalkung Y1 - 2019 CY - Potsdam ER -