Factors affecting selection of winter food and roosting resources by porcupines in Utah

Ecological and phytochemical factors potentially affecting winter dietary discrimination by porcupines ( Erethizon dorsatum ) in the mountain brush zone of Utah were studied. Porcupines utilized gambel oak ( Quercus gambelii ) as their primary winter food and roosting resource. Big-tooth maple ( Acer grandidentatum ) was the most common tree species in the study area but was rarely utilized by porcupines. Conifer species were used as a food and roosting resource significantly less often than they occurred in the study area, despite thermal advantages provided by their relatively dense canopies. Oak feed trees were successfully separated from conifer feed trees by discriminant analysis 100% of the time. Oak trees were correctly classified as feed and nonfeed trees 71% of the time. Gambel oak contained higher amounts of crude protein, fiber, and tannins, but was lower in either extract fractions and fatty acid content than conifers. A layer of adipose tissue used as an energy reserve by porcupines may have relaxed energy intake demands sufficiently to permit them to concentrate on a diet of oak tissue, which is high in protein, rather than a high-fat conifer diet. A diet relatively high in protein may have facilitated digestion of food material high in fiber. Temperature did not affect selection of tree species for roosting. Rock and snow caves were utilized infrequently and the study population ranged widely. Three of 15 study animals were eaten by predators.     

Habitat features and predictive habitat modeling for the Colorado chipmunk in southern New Mexico

Two subspecies of Colorado chipmunk (state threatened and federal species of concern) occur in southern New MeXico: Tamias quadrivittatus australis in the Organ Mountains and T. q. oscuraensis in the Oscura Mountains. We developed a GIS model of potentially suitable habitat based on vegetation and elevation features, evaluated site classifications of the GIS model, and determined vegetation and terrain features associated with chipmunk occurrence. We compared GIS model classifications with actual vegetation and elevation features measured at 37 sites. At 60 sites we measured 18 habitat variables regarding slope, aspect, tree species, shrub species, and ground cover. We used logistic regression to analyze habitat variables associated with chipmunk presence/absence. All (100%) 37 sample sites (28 predicted suitable, 9 predicted unsuitable) were classified correctly by the GIS model regarding elevation and vegetation. For 28 sites predicted suitable by the GIS model, 18 sites (64%) appeared visually suitable based on habitat variables selected from logistic regression analyses, of which 10 sites (36%) were specifically predicted as suitable habitat via logistic regression. We detected chipmunks at 70% of sites deemed suitable via the logistic regression models. Shrub cover, tree density, plant proximity, presence of logs, and presence of rock outcrop were retained in the logistic model for the Oscura Mountains; litter, shrub cover, and grass cover were retained in the logistic model for the Organ Mountains. Evaluation of predictive models illustrates the need for multi-stage analyses to best judge performance. Microhabitat analyses indicate prospective needs for different management strategies between the subspecies. Sensitivities of each population of the Colorado chipmunk to natural and prescribed fire suggest that partial burnings of areas inhabited by Colorado chipmunks in southern New Mexico may be beneficial. These partial burnings may later help avoid a fire that could substantially reduce habitat of chipmunks over a mountain range.     

Identification of a bacterial inhibitor against g-type lysozyme

Lysozymes are antibacterial effectors of the innate immune system in animals that hydrolyze peptidoglycan. Bacteria have evolved protective mechanisms that contribute to lysozyme tolerance such as the production of lysozyme inhibitors, but only inhibitors of chicken (c-) and invertebrate (i-) type lysozyme have been identified. We here report the discovery of a novel Escherichia coli inhibitor specific for goose (g-) type lysozymes, which we designate PliG (periplasmic lysozyme inhibitor of g-type lysozyme). Although it does not inhibit c- or i-type lysozymes, PliG shares a structural sequence motif with the previously described PliI and MliC/PliC lysozyme inhibitor families, suggesting a common ancestry and mode of action. Deletion of pliG increased the sensitivity of E. coli to g-type lysozyme. The existence of inhibitors against all major types of animal lysozyme and their contribution to lysozyme tolerance suggest that lysozyme inhibitors may play a role in bacterial interactions with animal hosts.     

Relaxin family peptide systems and the central nervous system

Since its discovery in the 1920s, relaxin has enjoyed a reputation as a peptide hormone of pregnancy. However, relaxin and other relaxin family peptides are now associated with numerous non-reproductive physiologies and disease states. The new millennium bought with it the sequence of the human genome and subsequently new directions for relaxin research. In 2002, the ancestral relaxin gene RLN3 was identified from genome databases. The relaxin-3 peptide is highly expressed in a small region of the brain and in species from teleost to primates and has both conserved sequence and sites of expression. Combined with the discovery of the relaxin family peptide receptors, interest in the role of the relaxin family peptides in the central nervous system has been reignited. This review explores the relaxin family peptides that are expressed in or act upon the brain, the receptors that mediate their actions, and what is currently known of their functions.     

Identification of an emerin–β-catenin complex in the heart important for intercalated disc architecture and β-catenin localisation

How mutations in the protein emerin lead to the cardiomyopathy associated with X-linked Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (X-EDMD) is unclear. We identified emerin at the adherens junction of the intercalated disc, where it co-localised with the catenin family of proteins. Emerin bound to wild type β-catenin both in vivo and in vitro. Mutating the GSK3β phosphorylation sites on β-catenin abolished this binding. Wild type but not mutant forms of emerin associated with X-EDMD were able to reduce β-catenin protein levels. Cardiomyocytes from emerin-null mice hearts exhibited erroneous β-catenin distribution and intercalated disc architecture. Treatment of wild type cardiomyocytes with phenylephrine, which inactivates GSK3β, redistributed emerin and β-catenin. Emerin was identified as a direct target of GSK3β activity since exogenous expression of GSK3β reduced emerin levels at the nuclear envelope. We propose that perturbation to or total loss of the emerin–β-catenin complex compromises both intercalated disc function and β-catenin signalling in cardiomyocytes.     

The Advantages of Obscurity: Charles Darwin's Negative Inference from the Histories of Domestic Breeds

In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin famously accounted for the lack of fossil evidence in support of species evolution on the grounds that the fossil record is naturally incomplete. This essay examines a similar argument that Darwin applied to his analogy between natural and artificial selection: the scarcity of data about the historical backgrounds of domestic breeds was the natural by-product of an extremely gradual change process. The point was to enhance the ability of the artificial selection analogy to suggest that nature's species had undergone a similar transformation. Darwin did not depend on this negative inference alone, however, for in his writings he included whatever information he could find about the actual histories of particular breeds. A comparison with Darwin's treatment of the fossil record suggests the reasonableness of this combined use of opposite kinds of evidence to establish a single point. The comparison also suggests the unique qualities of negative inference as applied to the breeding analogy.