Holocarpic oomycete parasitoids of red algae are not .

is a genus of obligate holocarpic endobiotic oomycetes. Most of the species classified in the genus are known only from their morphology and life cycle, and a few have been examined for their ultrastructure or molecular phylogeny. However, the taxonomic placement of all sequenced species is provisional, as no sequence data are available for the type species, , to consolidate the taxonomy of species currently placed in the genus.

Adaptive responses of animals to climate change are most likely insufficient.

Biological responses to climate change have been widely documented across taxa and regions, but it remains unclear whether species are maintaining a good match between phenotype and environment, i.e. whether observed trait changes are adaptive.

The lichen symbiosis re-viewed through the genomes of Cladonia grayi and its algal partner Asterochloris glomerata.

Background: Lichens, encompassing 20,000 known species, are symbioses between specialized fungi (mycobionts), mostly ascomycetes, and unicellular green algae or cyanobacteria (photobionts). Here we describe the first parallel genomic analysis of the mycobiont Cladonia grayi and of its green algal photobiont Asterochloris glomerata. We focus on genes/predicted proteins of potential symbiotic significance, sought by surveying proteins differentially activated during early stages of mycobiont and photobiont interaction in coculture, expanded or contracted protein families, and proteins with differential rates of evolution.

Re-evaluation of von Frauenfeld, 1862 and Gittenberger, 1980, including the description of two new Iberian species using Computer Tomography (CT) (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae).

The present study aims to clarify the confused taxonomy of von Frauenfeld, 1862 and Gittenberger, 1980. Revision of Iberian micro snails is severely hindered by uncertainties regarding the identity of the oldest Iberian species, von Frauenfeld, 1862. In this paper, we clarify its taxonomic status by designating a lectotype from the original syntype series and by describing its internal and external shell morphology.

A Polyamine Oxidase from (SelPAO5) can Replace AtPAO5 in through Converting Thermospermine to Norspermidine instead to Spermidine.

Of the five polyamine oxidases in , AtPAO5 has a substrate preference for the tetraamine thermospermine (T-Spm) which is converted to triamine spermidine (Spd) in a back-conversion reaction in vitro. A homologue of AtPAO5 from the lycophyte (SelPAO5) back-converts T-Spm to the uncommon polyamine norspermidine (NorSpd) instead of Spd. An loss-of-function mutant shows a strong reduced growth phenotype when growing on a T-Spm containing medium.

The Evolutionary Traceability of a Protein.

Orthologs document the evolution of genes and metabolic capacities encoded in extant and ancient genomes. However, the similarity between orthologs decays with time, and ultimately it becomes insufficient to infer common ancestry. This leaves ancient gene set reconstructions incomplete and distorted to an unknown extent.

Neofunctionalization of the secreted Tin2 effector in the fungal pathogen Ustilago maydis.

Plant-pathogenic fungi hijack their hosts by secreting effector proteins. Effectors serve to suppress plant immune responses and modulate the host metabolism to benefit the pathogen. Smut fungi are biotrophic pathogens that also parasitize important cereals, including maize.

Niche Estimation Above and Below the Species Level.

Ecological niches reflect not only adaptation to local circumstances but also the tendency of related lineages to share environmental tolerances. As a result, information on phylogenetic relationships has underappreciated potential to inform ecological niche modeling. Here we review three strategies for incorporating evolutionary information into niche models: splitting lineages into subunits, lumping across lineages, and partial pooling of lineages into a common statistical framework that implicitly or explicitly accounts for evolutionary relationships.

Quantification of 71 detected elements from Li to U for aqueous samples by simultaneous-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.

Quantitative analysis of multi-element concentrations in aqueous solutions, such as water, beverages and biofluids, has long been performed by sequential inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Recently, a fully simultaneous mass spectrum monitoring ICP-MS instrument that fits a compact Mattauch-Herzog geometry (MH-ICP-MS) with a permanent magnet and a large, spatially resolving semiconductor ion detector has been introduced. This technology allows coverage of the complete inorganic relevant mass range from Li to U in a single measurement, which helps to mitigate the restriction on the number of inorganic elements whose concentrations may be routinely measured from one sample, thus reducing operational assay times and aqueous sample volumes for evaluations across the breadth of the periodic table.

Loss of Biodiversity Dimensions through Shifting Climates and Ancient Mass Extinctions.

Many aspects of climate affect the deployment of biodiversity in time and space, and so changes in climate might be expected to drive regional and global extinction of both taxa and their ecological functions. Here we examine the association of past climate changes with extinction in marine bivalves, which are increasingly used as a model system for macroecological and macroevolutionary analysis. Focusing on the Cenozoic Era (66 Myr ago to the present), we analyze extinction patterns in shallow-water marine bivalve genera relative to temperature dynamics as estimated from isotopic data in microfossils.

Eyes Wide Shut: the impact of dim-light vision on neural investment in marine teleosts.

Understanding how organismal design evolves in response to environmental challenges is a central goal of evolutionary biology. In particular, assessing the extent to which environmental requirements drive general design features among distantly related groups is a major research question. The visual system is a critical sensory apparatus that evolves in response to changing light regimes.

Identification of seven polyamine oxidase genes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and their expression profiles under physiological and various stress conditions.

Polyamines (PAs) are implicated in developmental processes and stress responses of plants. Polyamine oxidases (PAOs), flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent enzymes that function in PA catabolism, play a critical role. Even though PAO gene families of Arabidopsis and rice have been intensely characterized and their expression in response to developmental and environmental changes has been investigated, little is known about PAOs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).

Characterizing the phylogenetic specialism-generalism spectrum of mammal parasites.

The distribution of parasites across mammalian hosts is complex and represents a differential ability or opportunity to infect different host species. Here, we take a macroecological approach to investigate factors influencing why some parasites show a tendency to infect species widely distributed in the host phylogeny (phylogenetic generalism) while others infect only closely related hosts. Using a database on over 1400 parasite species that have been documented to infect up to 69 terrestrial mammal host species, we characterize the phylogenetic generalism of parasites using standard effect sizes for three metrics: mean pairwise phylogenetic distance (PD), maximum PD and phylogenetic aggregation.

Global models underestimate large decadal declining and rising water storage trends relative to GRACE satellite data.

Assessing reliability of global models is critical because of increasing reliance on these models to address past and projected future climate and human stresses on global water resources. Here, we evaluate model reliability based on a comprehensive comparison of decadal trends (2002-2014) in land water storage from seven global models (WGHM, PCR-GLOBWB, GLDAS NOAH, MOSAIC, VIC, CLM, and CLSM) to trends from three Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite solutions in 186 river basins (∼60% of global land area). Medians of modeled basin water storage trends greatly underestimate GRACE-derived large decreasing (≤-0.

Conserved Gene Microsynteny Unveils Functional Interaction Between Protein Disulfide Isomerase and Rho Guanine-Dissociation Inhibitor Families.

Protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) support endoplasmic reticulum redox protein folding and cell-surface thiol-redox control of thrombosis and vascular remodeling. The family prototype PDIA1 regulates NADPH oxidase signaling and cytoskeleton organization, however the related underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we show that genes encoding human PDIA1 and its two paralogs PDIA8 and PDIA2 are each flanked by genes encoding Rho guanine-dissociation inhibitors (GDI), known regulators of RhoGTPases/cytoskeleton.

Abiotic Stress Phenotyping of Polyamine Mutants.

Plant mutants in polyamine pathway genes are ideal for investigating their roles in stress responses. Here we describe easy-to-perform methods for phenotyping Arabidopsis mutants under abiotic stress. These include measurements of root growth, chlorophyll content, water loss, electrolyte leakage, and content of the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide (HO) and superoxide anion (O-).

Identification of the actual coding region for polyamine oxidase 6 from rice (OsPAO6) and its partial characterization.

Polyamines (PA) in plant play roles in growth and development and in responses to environmental stresses. The family of polyamine oxidases (PAO) contributes to a balanced homeostasis of PAs catalyzing two different reactions, terminal catabolic (TC) and back-conversion (BC) pathway, in PA catabolism. From the seven PAOs encoded by the rice genome (OsPAO1 - OsPAO7) OsPAO6 could so far not be characterized due to failure in obtaining the coding cDNA based on accessions in the genomic databases.

Three new species of O.F. Müller, 1773 from the Southeastern USA, Belize and Panama are described using computer tomography (CT) (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae).

Three new species of the genus O.F. Müller, 1773, Jochum & Weigand, , Jochum & Weigand, and Jochum & Weigand, are described from the Southeastern United States, Belize and Panama, respectively.

Water scarcity hotspots travel downstream due to human interventions in the 20th and 21st century.

Water scarcity is rapidly increasing in many regions. In a novel, multi-model assessment, we examine how human interventions (HI: land use and land cover change, man-made reservoirs and human water use) affected monthly river water availability and water scarcity over the period 1971-2010. Here we show that HI drastically change the critical dimensions of water scarcity, aggravating water scarcity for 8.

Relationships between abiotic environment, plant functional traits, and animal body size at Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

The effect-response framework states that plant functional traits link the abiotic environment to ecosystem functioning. One ecosystem property is the body size of the animals living in the system, which is assumed to depend on temperature or resource availability, among others. For primary consumers, resource availability may directly be related to plant traits, while for secondary consumers the relationship is indirect.

Detection and Quantification of Bremia lactucae by Spore Trapping and Quantitative PCR.

Bremia lactucae is an obligate, oomycete pathogen of lettuce that causes leaf chlorosis and necrosis and adversely affects marketability. The disease has been managed with a combination of host resistance and fungicide applications with success over the years. Fungicide applications are routinely made under the assumption that inoculum is always present during favorable environmental conditions.

Unifying latitudinal gradients in range size and richness across marine and terrestrial systems.

Many marine and terrestrial clades show similar latitudinal gradients in species richness, but opposite gradients in range size-on land, ranges are the smallest in the tropics, whereas in the sea, ranges are the largest in the tropics. Therefore, richness gradients in marine and terrestrial systems do not arise from a shared latitudinal arrangement of species range sizes. Comparing terrestrial birds and marine bivalves, we find that gradients in range size are concordant at the level of genera.