RICK/Rip2/CARDIAK mediates signalling for receptors of the innate and adaptive immune systems

The immune system consists of two evolutionarily different but closely related responses, innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Each of these responses has characteristic receptors-Toll-like receptors (TLRs) for innate immunity and antigen-specific receptors for adaptive immunity. Here we show that the caspase recruitment domain (CARD)-containing serine/threonine kinase Rip2 (also known as RICK, CARDIAK, CCK and Ripk2) transduces signals from receptors of both immune responses. Rip2 was recruited to TLR2 signalling complexes after ligand stimulation. Moreover, cytokine production in Rip2-deficient cells was reduced on stimulation of TLRs with lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycan and double-stranded RNA, but not with bacterial DNA, indicating that Rip2 is downstream of TLR2/3/4 but not TLR9. Rip2-deficient cells were also hyporesponsive to signalling through interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-18 receptors, and deficient for signalling through Nod proteins-molecules also implicated in the innate immune response. Furthermore, Rip2-deficient T cells showed severely reduced NF-kappaB activation, IL-2 production and proliferation on T-cell-receptor (TCR) engagement, and impaired differentiation to T-helper subtype 1 (TH1) cells, indicating that Rip2 is required for optimal TCR signalling and T-cell differentiation. Rip2 is therefore a signal transducer and integrator of signals for both the innate and adaptive immune systems.     

Helminth parasites of seven anuran species from northwestern Mexico

One hundred eighty-three specimens representing 7 anuran species were examined for helminth parasites: Bufo kelloggi, B. mazatlanensis, Leptodactylus melanonotus, Pachymedusa dacnicolor, Rana forreri, R. magnaocularis, Smilisca baudini . The following species were found: 8 species of Trematoda, Cephalogonimus americanus, Clinostomum attenuatum (larva), Glypthelmins poncedeleoni, G. quieta, Gorgoderina attenuata, Haematoloechus complexus, H. longiplexus , and Megalodiscus temperatus ; 2 species of Cestoda, Cylindrotaenia americana and Nematotaenia dispar ; 13 species of Nematoda, Aplectana incerta, A. itzocanensis, Cosmocerca podicipinus, Cosmocercella haberi, Cosmocercoides variabilis, Foleyellides striatus, Oswaldocruzia pipiens, Rhabdias americanus, R. ranae, Subulascaris falcaustriformis, Physaloptera sp. (larva), Physocephalus sp. (larva), and Spiroxys sp. (larva); and 1 species of Acanthocephala (cystacanth). Helminth species richness was 6.4 ± 2.4 s. Thirty-five new host records are reported.     

Plant nutrient levels on two summer ranges in the River of No Return Wilderness Area, Idaho

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Mapping and analysis of chromatin state dynamics in nine human cell types

Chromatin profiling has emerged as a powerful means of genome annotation and detection of regulatory activity. The approach is especially well suited to the characterization of non-coding portions of the genome, which critically contribute to cellular phenotypes yet remain largely uncharted. Here we map nine chromatin marks across nine cell types to systematically characterize regulatory elements, their cell-type specificities and their functional interactions. Focusing on cell-type-specific patterns of promoters and enhancers, we define multicell activity profiles for chromatin state, gene expression, regulatory motif enrichment and regulator expression. We use correlations between these profiles to link enhancers to putative target genes, and predict the cell-type-specific activators and repressors that modulate them. The resulting annotations and regulatory predictions have implications for the interpretation of genome-wide association studies. Top-scoring disease single nucleotide polymorphisms are frequently positioned within enhancer elements specifically active in relevant cell types, and in some cases affect a motif instance for a predicted regulator, thus suggesting a mechanism for the association. Our study presents a general framework for deciphering cis-regulatory connections and their roles in disease.     

Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived?

Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540?million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, highlighting the need for effective conservation measures.