Genomic sequence of the pathogenic and allergenic filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus is exceptional among microorganisms in being both a primary and opportunistic pathogen as well as a major allergen. Its conidia production is prolific, and so human respiratory tract exposure is almost constant. A. fumigatus is isolated from human habitats and vegetable compost heaps. In immunocompromised individuals, the incidence of invasive infection can be as high as 50% and the mortality rate is often about 50% (ref. 2). The interaction of A. fumigatus and other airborne fungi with the immune system is increasingly linked to severe asthma and sinusitis. Although the burden of invasive disease caused by A. fumigatus is substantial, the basic biology of the organism is mostly obscure. Here we show the complete 29.4-megabase genome sequence of the clinical isolate Af293, which consists of eight chromosomes containing 9,926 predicted genes. Microarray analysis revealed temperature-dependent expression of distinct sets of genes, as well as 700 A. fumigatus genes not present or significantly diverged in the closely related sexual species Neosartorya fischeri, many of which may have roles in the pathogenicity phenotype. The Af293 genome sequence provides an unparalleled resource for the future understanding of this remarkable fungus.     

Ant-like task allocation and recruitment in cooperative robots

One of the greatest challenges in robotics is to create machines that are able to interact with unpredictable environments in real time. A possible solution may be to use swarms of robots behaving in a self-organized manner, similar to workers in an ant colony. Efficient mechanisms of division of labour, in particular series-parallel operation and transfer of information among group members, are key components of the tremendous ecological success of ants. Here we show that the general principles regulating division of labour in ant colonies indeed allow the design of flexible, robust and effective robotic systems. Groups of robots using ant-inspired algorithms of decentralized control techniques foraged more efficiently and maintained higher levels of group energy than single robots. But the benefits of group living decreased in larger groups, most probably because of interference during foraging. Intriguingly, a similar relationship between group size and efficiency has been documented in social insects. Moreover, when food items were clustered, groups where robots could recruit other robots in an ant-like manner were more efficient than groups without information transfer, suggesting that group dynamics of swarms of robots may follow rules similar to those governing social insects.     

Isotopic evidence for Late Cretaceous plume-ridge interaction at the Hawaiian hotspot

When a mantle plume interacts with a mid-ocean ridge, both are noticeably affected. The mid-ocean ridge can display anomalously shallow bathymetry, excess volcanism, thickened crust, asymmetric sea-floor spreading and a plume component in the composition of the ridge basalts. The hotspot-related volcanism can be drawn closer to the ridge, and its geochemical composition can also be affected. Here we present Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic analyses of samples from the next-to-oldest seamount in the Hawaiian hotspot track, the Detroit seamount at 51 degrees N, which show that, 81 Myr ago, the Hawaiian hotspot produced volcanism with an isotopic signature indistinguishable from mid-ocean ridge basalt. This composition is unprecedented in the known volcanism from the Hawaiian hotspot, but is consistent with the interpretation from plate reconstructions that the hotspot was located close to a mid-ocean ridge about 80 Myr ago. As the rising mantle plume encountered the hot, low-viscosity asthenosphere and hot, thin lithosphere near the spreading centre, it appears to have entrained enough of the isotopically depleted upper mantle to overwhelm the chemical characteristics of the plume itself. The Hawaiian hotspot thus joins the growing list of hotspots that have interacted with a rift early in their history.     

Mast cells and anaphylaxis

Zusammenfassung Der Mechanismus der bei der Antigen-Antikörper-Reaktion zustande kommenden Mastzell-disruption wird anhand der neuesten, vorwiegend an isolierten Zellen durchgeführten Untersuchungen diskutiert; dabei wird insbesondere auf jene Befunde, die für einen enzymatischen Vorgang sprechen, eingegangen⁶⁴.     

Chemotaxis of leucocytes

Summary It is the purpose of this review to provide a survey of some more recent work on chemotaxis of leucocytes. Attention was drawn to the existence of a variety of cytotaxins (chemotactic mediators) and in particular to their cell specificity. The significance of these different cytotaxins for the accumulation of leucocytes in inflammatory sites in vivo is discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Die Aktivität chemischer Substanzen, die Wanderungsrichtung von Zellen zu bestimmen, wird als Chemotaxis bezeichnet. Chemotaxis ist von erheblichem biologischem Interesse; sie dient der Reproduktion, der Ernährung, der zellulären Organisation oder der Vermeidung schädlicher Stoffe bei Pflanzen und Tieren.Das Referat vermittelt einen kritischen Überblick über neuere Arbeiten über Chemotaxis von Leukozyten, und es wird die Bedeutung dieses Vorganges für die entzündliche Ansammlung von Leukozyten diskutiert.

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This work was supported by the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research, Grant No. 4518 and by the World Health Organization.