High temperatures in the Late Cretaceous Arctic Ocean

To understand the climate dynamics of the warm, equable greenhouse world of the Late Cretaceous period, it is important to determine polar palaeotemperatures. The early palaeoceanographic history of the Arctic Ocean has, however, remained largely unknown, because the sea floor and underlying deposits are usually inaccessible beneath a cover of floating ice. A shallow piston core taken from a drifting ice island in 1970 fortuitously retrieved unconsolidated Upper Cretaceous organic-rich sediment from Alpha ridge, a submarine elevated feature of probable oceanic origin. A lack of carbonate in the sediments from this core has prevented the use of traditional oxygen-isotope palaeothermometry. Here we determine Arctic palaeotemperatures from these Upper Cretaceous deposits using TEX86, a new palaeothermometer that is based on the composition of membrane lipids derived from a ubiquitous component of marine plankton, Crenarchaeota. From these analyses we infer an average sea surface temperature of approximately 15 degrees C for the Arctic Ocean about 70 million years ago. This calibration point implies an Equator-to-pole gradient in sea surface temperatures of approximately 15 degrees C during this interval and, by extrapolation, we suggest that polar waters were generally warmer than 20 degrees C during the middle Cretaceous (approximately 90 million years ago).     

Pervasive alteration of tree communities in undisturbed Amazonian forests

Amazonian rainforests are some of the most species-rich tree communities on earth. Here we show that, over the past two decades, forests in a central Amazonian landscape have experienced highly nonrandom changes in dynamics and composition. Our analyses are based on a network of 18 permanent plots unaffected by any detectable disturbance. Within these plots, rates of tree mortality, recruitment and growth have increased over time. Of 115 relatively abundant tree genera, 27 changed significantly in population density or basal area--a value nearly 14 times greater than that expected by chance. An independent, eight-year study in nearby forests corroborates these shifts in composition. Contrary to recent predictions, we observed no increase in pioneer trees. However, genera of faster-growing trees, including many canopy and emergent species, are increasing in dominance or density, whereas genera of slower-growing trees, including many subcanopy species, are declining. Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations may explain these changes, although the effects of this and other large-scale environmental alterations remain uncertain. These compositional changes could have important impacts on the carbon storage, dynamics and biota of Amazonian forests.     

Perennial water ice identified in the south polar cap of Mars

The inventory of water and carbon dioxide reservoirs on Mars are important clues for understanding the geological, climatic and potentially exobiological evolution of the planet. From the early mapping observation of the permanent ice caps on the martian poles, the northern cap was believed to be mainly composed of water ice, whereas the southern cap was thought to be constituted of carbon dioxide ice. However, recent missions (NASA missions Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey) have revealed surface structures, altimetry profiles, underlying buried hydrogen, and temperatures of the south polar regions that are thermodynamically consistent with a mixture of surface water ice and carbon dioxide. Here we present the first direct identification and mapping of both carbon dioxide and water ice in the martian high southern latitudes, at a resolution of 2 km, during the local summer, when the extent of the polar ice is at its minimum. We observe that this south polar cap contains perennial water ice in extended areas: as a small admixture to carbon dioxide in the bright regions; associated with dust, without carbon dioxide, at the edges of this bright cap; and, unexpectedly, in large areas tens of kilometres away from the bright cap.     

Optimal traffic organization in ants under crowded conditions

Efficient transportation, a hot topic in nonlinear science, is essential for modern societies and the survival of biological species. Biological evolution has generated a rich variety of successful solutions, which have inspired engineers to design optimized artificial systems. Foraging ants, for example, form attractive trails that support the exploitation of initially unknown food sources in almost the minimum possible time. However, can this strategy cope with bottleneck situations, when interactions cause delays that reduce the overall flow? Here, we present an experimental study of ants confronted with two alternative routes. We find that pheromone-based attraction generates one trail at low densities, whereas at a high level of crowding, another trail is established before traffic volume is affected, which guarantees that an optimal rate of food return is maintained. This bifurcation phenomenon is explained by a nonlinear modelling approach. Surprisingly, the underlying mechanism is based on inhibitory interactions. It points to capacity reserves, a limitation of the density-induced speed reduction, and a sufficient pheromone concentration for reliable trail perception. The balancing mechanism between cohesive and dispersive forces appears to be generic in natural, urban and transportation systems.     

Arctic Ocean: hydrothermal activity on Gakkel Ridge

In the hydrothermal circulation at mid-ocean ridges, sea water penetrates the fractured crust, becomes heated by its proximity to the hot magma, and returns to the sea floor as hot fluids enriched in various chemical elements. In contradiction to earlier results that predict diminishing hydrothermal activity with decreasing spreading rate, a survey of the ultra-slowly spreading Gakkel Ridge (Arctic Ocean) by Edmonds et al. and Michael et al. suggests that, instead of being rare, the hydrothermal activity is abundant--exceeding by at least a factor of two to three what would be expected by extrapolation from observation on faster spreading ridges. Here we use helium-3 (3He), a hydrothermal tracer, to show that this abundance of venting sites does not translate, as would be expected, into an anomalous hydrothermal 3He output from the ridge. Because of the wide implications of the submarine hydrothermal processes for mantle heat and mass fluxes to the ocean, these conflicting results call for clarification of the link between hydrothermal activity and crustal production at mid-ocean ridges.     

Hidden complexity in the mechanical properties of titin

Individual molecules of the giant protein titin span the A-bands and I-bands that make up striated muscle. The I-band region of titin is responsible for passive elasticity in such muscle, and contains tandem arrays of immunoglobulin domains. One such domain (I27) has been investigated extensively, using dynamic force spectroscopy and simulation. However, the relevance of these studies to the behaviour of the protein under physiological conditions was not established. Force studies reveal a lengthening of I27 without complete unfolding, forming a stable intermediate that has been suggested to be an important component of titin elasticity. To develop a more complete picture of the forced unfolding pathway, we use mutant titins--certain mutations allow the role of the partly unfolded intermediate to be investigated in more depth. Here we show that, under physiological forces, the partly unfolded intermediate does not contribute to mechanical strength. We also propose a unified forced unfolding model of all I27 analogues studied, and conclude that I27 can withstand higher forces in muscle than was predicted previously.     

Conservation of total synaptic weight through balanced synaptic depression and potentiation

Memory is believed to depend on activity-dependent changes in the strength of synapses. In part, this view is based on evidence that the efficacy of synapses can be enhanced or depressed depending on the timing of pre- and postsynaptic activity. However, when such plastic synapses are incorporated into neural network models, stability problems may develop because the potentiation or depression of synapses increases the likelihood that they will be further strengthened or weakened. Here we report biological evidence for a homeostatic mechanism that reconciles the apparently opposite requirements of plasticity and stability. We show that, in intercalated neurons of the amygdala, activity-dependent potentiation or depression of particular glutamatergic inputs leads to opposite changes in the strength of inputs ending at other dendritic sites. As a result, little change in total synaptic weight occurs, even though the relative strength of inputs is modified. Furthermore, hetero- but not homosynaptic alterations are blocked by intracellular dialysis of drugs that prevent Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. Thus, in intercalated neurons at least, inverse heterosynaptic plasticity tends to compensate for homosynaptic long-term potentiation and depression, thus stabilizing total synaptic weight.     

A mutation creating a potential illegitimate microRNA target site in the myostatin gene affects muscularity in sheep

Texel sheep are renowned for their exceptional meatiness. To identify the genes underlying this economically important feature, we performed a whole-genome scan in a Romanov x Texel F2 population. We mapped a quantitative trait locus with a major effect on muscle mass to chromosome 2 and subsequently fine-mapped it to a chromosome interval encompassing the myostatin (GDF8) gene. We herein demonstrate that the GDF8 allele of Texel sheep is characterized by a G to A transition in the 3' UTR that creates a target site for mir1 and mir206, microRNAs (miRNAs) that are highly expressed in skeletal muscle. This causes translational inhibition of the myostatin gene and hence contributes to the muscular hypertrophy of Texel sheep. Analysis of SNP databases for humans and mice demonstrates that mutations creating or destroying putative miRNA target sites are abundant and might be important effectors of phenotypic variation.