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The uptake of resources from the environment is a vital process for all organisms. Many experimental studies have revealed that the rate at which this process occurs depends critically on the resource concentration, a relationship called "functional response." However, whether the concentration of the consumer normally affects the functional response has been the subject of a long-standing, predominantly theoretical, debate in ecology. Here we present an experimental test between the alternative hypotheses that food uptake depends either only on the resource concentration or on both the resource and the consumer concentrations. In short-term laboratory experiments, we measured the uptake of radioactively labeled, unicellular green algae (Monoraphidium minutum, resource) by the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus (a consumer) for varying combinations of resource and consumer concentrations. We found that the food uptake by Brachionus depended on the algal concentration with the relationship best described by a Holling type 3 functional response. We detected significant consumer effects on the functional response only at an extraordinarily high Brachionus density (similar to 125 rotifers/mL), which by far exceeds concentrations normally encountered in the field. We conclude that con sumer-dependent food uptake by planktonic rotifers is a phenomenon that can occur under extreme conditions, but probably plays a minor role in natural environments
1 Secondary seed dispersal by wind, the wind-driven movement of seeds along the ground surface, is an important dispersal mechanism for plant species in a range of environments. 2 We formulate a mechanistic model that describes how secondary dispersal by wind is affected by seed traits, wind conditions and obstacles to seed movement. The model simulates the movement paths of individual seeds and can be fully specified using independently measured parameters. 3 We develop an explicit version of the model that uses a spatially explicit representation of obstacle patterns, and also an aggregated version that uses probability distributions to model seed retention at obstacles and seed movement between obstacles. The aggregated version is computationally efficient and therefore suited to large-scale simulations. It provides a very good approximation of the explicit version (R-2 > 0.99) if initial seed positions vary randomly relative to the obstacle pattern. 4 To validate the model, we conducted a field experiment in which we released seeds of seven South African Proteaceae species that differ in seed size and morphology into an arena in which we systematically varied obstacle patterns. When parameterized with maximum likelihood estimates obtained from independent measurements, the explicit model version explained 70-77% of the observed variation in the proportion of seeds dispersed over 25 m and 67- 69% of the observed variation in the direction of seed dispersal. 5 The model tended to underestimate dispersal rates, possibly due to the omission of turbulence from the model, although this could also be explained by imprecise estimation of one model parameter (the aerodynamic roughness length). 6 Our analysis of the aggregated model predicts a unimodal relationship between the distance of secondary dispersal by wind and seed size. The model can also be used to identify species with the potential for long-distance seed transport by secondary wind dispersal. 7 The validated model expands the domain of mechanistic dispersal models, contributes to a functional understanding of seed dispersal, and provides a tool for predicting the distances that seeds move
An improved method for spectral subband decomposition based on simultaneous fitting of the initial spectrum and a set of its derivatives is introduced. Additionally, it procedure for finding an optimal smoothing filter to obtain undistorted derivatives IS Suggested. The proposed method is demonstrated with a model spectrum as well its with experimental absorption spectra of the photosynthetic antenna complexes, peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein (PCP) and the main light-harvesting complex of higher plants (LHC II). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) is a human disease that is characterized by focal myofibrillar destruction and pathological cytoplasmic protein aggregations. In an extended German pedigree with a novel form of MFM characterized by clinical features of a limb-girdle myopathy and morphological features of MFM, we identified a cosegregating, heterozygous nonsense mutation (8130G -> A; W2710X) in the filamin c gene ( FLNC) on chromosome 7q32.1. The mutation is the first found in FLNC and is localized in the dimerization domain of filamin c. Functional studies showed that, in the truncated mutant protein, this domain has a disturbed secondary structure that leads to the inability to dimerize properly. As a consequence of this malfunction, the muscle fibers of our patients display massive cytoplasmic aggregates containing filamin c and several Z-disk-associated and sarcolemmal proteins
Inositol polyphosphates, such as inositol trisphosphate, are pivotal intracellular signaling molecules in eukaryotic cells. In higher plants the mechanism for the regulation of the type and the level of these signaling molecules is poorly understood. In this study we investigate the physiological function of an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) gene encoding inositol polyphosphate kinase (AtIPK2alpha), which phosphorylates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate successively at the D-6 and D-3 positions, and inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate at D-6, resulting in the generation of inositol 1,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate. Semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR and promoter-beta-glucuronidase reporter gene analyses showed that AtIPK2alpha is expressed in various tissues, including roots and root hairs, stem, leaf, pollen grains, pollen tubes, the flower stigma, and siliques. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the AtIPK2alpha antisense gene under its own promoter were generated. Analysis of several independent transformants exhibiting strong reduction in AtIPK2alpha transcript levels showed that both pollen germination and pollen tube growth were enhanced in the antisense lines compared to wild-type plants, especially in the presence of nonoptimal low Ca2+ concentrations in the culture medium. Furthermore, root growth and root hair development were also stimulated in the antisense lines, in the presence of elevated external Ca2+ concentration or upon the addition of EGTA. In addition, seed germination and early seedling growth was stimulated in the antisense lines. These observations suggest a general and important role of AtIPK2alpha, and hence inositol polyphosphate metabolism, in the regulation of plant growth most likely through the regulation of calcium signaling, consistent with the well-known function of inositol trisphosphate in the mobilization of intracellular calcium stores
Functional groups with diverse responses to environmental factors sum to produce communities with less temporal variability in their biomass than those lacking this diversity. The detection of these compensatory dynamics can be complicated by a spatio-temporal alternation in the environmental factors limiting growth (both abiotic and biotic), which restricts the occurrence of compensatory dynamics to certain periods or locations. Hence, resolving the spatio- temporal scale may uncover important spatial and/or temporal components in community variability. Using long-term data from Lake Constance (Bodensee), we find that a reduction in grazing pressure and relaxed competition for nutrients during winter and spring generates coherent dynamics among edible and less edible phytoplankton. During summer and fall, when both grazing pressure and nutrient limitation are present, edible and less edible phytoplankton exhibit compensatory dynamics. This study supports recent work suggesting that both abiotic and biotic interactions promote compensatory dynamics and to our knowledge, this is the first example of a system where compensatory and coherent dynamics seasonally alternate.
Mitochondrial diseases may be caused by numerous mutations that alter proteins of the respiratory chain and of other metabolic pathways in the mitochondrium. For clinicians this disease group poses a considerable diagnostic challenge due to ambiguous genotype-phenotype relationships. Until now, only 30 % of the mitochondriopathies can be diagnosed at the molecular level. We therefore need a new diagnostic tool that offers a wide view on the mitochondrial proteins. Here, we present a method to generate a high-resolution, large-gel two-dimensional gel electrophoretic (2-DE) map of a purified fraction of mitochondrial proteins from Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL). LCLs can be easily obtained from patients and control subjects in a routine clinical setting. They often express the biochemical phenotype and can be cultured to high cell numbers, sufficient to gain enough purified material for 2- DE. In total we identified 166 mitochondrial proteins. Thirteen proteins were earlier not known to be of mitochondrial origin. Thirty-nine proteins were associated with human diseases ranging from respiratory chain enzyme deficiencies to disorders of P-oxidation and amino acid metabolism. This 2-DE map is intended to be the first step to diagnose mitochondrial diseases at the proteomic level
Among all voltage-gated K+ channels from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the weakly rectifying K+ channel (K-weak channel) AKT2 displays unique gating properties. AKT2 is exceptionally regulated by phosphorylation: when nonphosphorylated AKT2 behaves as an inward-rectifying potassium channel; phosphorylation of AKT2 abolishes inward rectification by shifting its activation threshold far positive (>200 mV) so that it closes only at voltages positive of + 100 mV. In its phosphorylated form, AKT2 is thus locked in the open state in the entire physiological voltage range. To understand the molecular grounds of this unique gating behavior, we generated chimeras between AKT2 and the conventional inward-rectifying channel KAT1. The transfer of the pore from KAT1 to AKT2 altered the permeation properties of the channel. However, the gating properties were unaffected, suggesting that the pore region of AKT2 is not responsible for the unique K-weak gating. Instead, a lysine residue in S4, highly conserved among all K-weak channels but absent from other plant K+ channels, was pinpointed in a site-directed mutagenesis approach. Substitution of the lysine by serine or aspartate abolished the "open-lock" characteristic and converted AKT2 into an inward- rectifying channel. Interestingly, phosphoregulation of the mutant AKT2-K197S appeared to be similar to that of the K-in channel KAT1: as suggested by mimicking the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated states, phosphorylation induced a shift of the activation threshold of AKT2-K197S by about +50 mV. We conclude that the lysine residue K197 sensitizes AKT2 to phosphoregulation. The phosphorylation-induced reduction of the activation energy in AKT2 is similar to 6 kT larger than in the K197S mutant. It is discussed that this hypersensitive response of AKT2 to phosphorylation equips a cell with the versatility to establish a potassium gradient and to make efficient use of it
Affinity interaction betwen phenylboronic acid-carrying self-assembled monolayers and FAD or HRP
(2005)
A method is provided for the recognition of glycated molecules based on their binding affinities to boronate- carrying monolayers. The affinity interaction of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with phenylboronic acid monolayers on gold was investigated by using voltammetric and microgravimetric methods. Conjugates of 3-aminopherrylboronic acid and 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid di(N-hydroxysuccinimide ester) or 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid were prepared and self-assembled on gold surfaces to generate monolayers. FAD is bound to this modified sur-face and recognized by a pair of redox peaks with a formal potential of -0.433 V in a 0.1 m phosphate buffer solution, pH 6.5. Upon addition of a sugar to the buffer, the bound FAD could be replaced, indicating that the binding is reversible. Voltammetric, mass measurements, and photometric activity assays show that the HRP can also be bound to the interface. This binding is reversible, and HRP can be replaced by sorbitol or removed in acidic solution. The effects of pH, incubation time, and concentration of H2O2 were studied by comparing the catalytic reduction of H2O2 in the presence of the electron-donor thionine. The catalytic current of the HRP-loaded electrode was proportional to HRP concentrations in the incubation solution in the range between 5 mu g mL(-1) and 0.4 mg mL(-1) with a linear slope of 3.34 mu A mL mg(-1) and a correlation coefficient of 0.9945