Space use by two arboreal rodent species in a Neotropical cloud forest

Studying animal space use patterns can help increase our understating of ecological processes such as competition and community dynamics. To quantify space and habitat use in an isolated and patchy cloud forest community in Mexico, we evaluate the vertical stratification, home range and habitat selection of two arboreal rodents: Habromys schmidlyi and Reithrodontomys microdon. Using live-traps at ground level and different forest strata, we radio-equipped nine individuals of H. schmidlyi and seven of R. microdon, and evaluated fine-scale space use and broad-scale habitat selection between cloud forest and oak forest. We found an average home range of 0.24 ha for R. microdon males and 0.72 ha for females, with a preference for higher canopy in the cloud forest. For H. schmidlyi the home range was 0.83 ha for males and 0.29 ha for females, with a preference for the understory level in the cloud forest. Home range is three-dimensional for these rodents, so we estimate that on average, individuals of both species used eight trees in the time they were tracked. We characterised the vegetation at the trap sites, and used recursive partitioning to relate the presence of different plants with the probability of finding these two species and Peromyscus aztecus, a third rodent species also present in the area and considered in our analysis of habitat use. The highest probability of finding R. microdon (96%) was related to the presence of Brachythecium occidentale and Renauldia mexicana, while H. schmidlyi (95%) was found in close proximity to Fabronia ciliaris and Everniastrum. We highlight the importance of arboreal trapping in biodiversity assessments, and the role of arboreal rodents in maintaining tropical forest ecosystems. We suggest that these rodent species could avoid or reduce competition by using the vertical strata differentially, and that H. schmidlyi and R. microdon can be biological indicators for cloud forest management and conservation.     

(3H) spiroperidol binding decreases in brains of rats infected with Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus1

Summary After i.p. inoculation with the Guajira strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus a significant decrease in the density of (³H) spiroperidol binding sites in the striatum, midbrain and frontal cortex was observed. No changes in the affinity of the receptors could be demonstrated. This finding is compatible with neuronal degeneration caused by the viral infection.Acknowledgments. This work was partially supported by Condes-Luz and Fundacite-Zulia. Butaclamol isomers were a gift of Ayerst Laboratories, Montreal, Canada.     

Evidence for cultivar adoption and emerging complexity during the mid-Holocene in the La Plata basin

Multidisciplinary investigations at the Los Ajos archaeological mound complex in the wetlands of southeastern Uruguay challenge the traditional view that the La Plata basin was inhabited by simple groups of hunters and gatherers for much of the pre-Hispanic era. Here we report new archaeological, palaeoecological and botanical data indicating that during an increasingly drier mid-Holocene, at around 4,190 radiocarbon (14C) years before present (bp), Los Ajos became a permanent circular plaza village, and its inhabitants adopted the earliest cultivars known in southern South America. The architectural plan of Los Ajos during the following Ceramic Mound Period (around 3,000-500 14C yr bp) is similar to, but earlier than, settlement patterns demonstrated in Amazonia, revealing a new and independent architectural tradition for South America.     

A missense mutation in Tbce causes progressive motor neuronopathy in mice

Mice that are homozygous with respect to the progressive motor neuronopathy (pmn) mutation (chromosome 13) develop a progressive caudio-cranial degeneration of their motor axons from the age of two weeks and die four to six weeks after birth. The mutation is fully penetrant, and expressivity does not depend on the genetic background. Based on its pathological features, the pmn mutation has been considered an excellent model for the autosomal recessive proximal childhood form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Previously, we demonstrated that the genes responsible for these disorders were not orthologous. Here, we identify the pmn mutation as resulting in a Trp524Gly substitution at the last residue of the tubulin-specific chaperone e (Tbce) protein that leads to decreased protein stability. Electron microscopy of the sciatic and phrenic nerves of affected mice showed a reduced number of microtubules, probably due to defective stabilization. Transgenic complementation with a wildtype Tbce cDNA restored a normal phenotype in mutant mice. Our observations indicate that Tbce is critical for the maintenance of microtubules in mouse motor axons, and suggest that altered function of tubulin cofactors might be implicated in human motor neuron diseases.     

Antibody neutralization and escape by HIV-1

Neutralizing antibodies (Nab) are a principal component of an effective human immune response to many pathogens, yet their role in HIV-1 infection is unclear. To gain a better understanding of this role, we examined plasma from patients with acute HIV infection. Here we report the detection of autologous Nab as early as 52 days after detection of HIV-specific antibodies. The viral inhibitory activity of Nab resulted in complete replacement of neutralization-sensitive virus by successive populations of resistant virus. Escape virus contained mutations in the env gene that were unexpectedly sparse, did not map generally to known neutralization epitopes, and involved primarily changes in N-linked glycosylation. This pattern of escape, and the exceptional density of HIV-1 envelope glycosylation generally, led us to postulate an evolving 'glycan shield' mechanism of neutralization escape whereby selected changes in glycan packing prevent Nab binding but not receptor binding. Direct support for this model was obtained by mutational substitution showing that Nab-selected alterations in glycosylation conferred escape from both autologous antibody and epitope-specific monoclonal antibodies. The evolving glycan shield thus represents a new mechanism contributing to HIV-1 persistence in the face of an evolving antibody repertoire.     

Unresponsiveness of colon cancer to BRAF(V600E) inhibition through feedback activation of EGFR

Inhibition of the BRAF(V600E) oncoprotein by the small-molecule drug PLX4032 (vemurafenib) is highly effective in the treatment of melanoma. However, colon cancer patients harbouring the same BRAF(V600E) oncogenic lesion have poor prognosis and show only a very limited response to this drug. To investigate the cause of the limited therapeutic effect of PLX4032 in BRAF(V600E) mutant colon tumours, here we performed an RNA-interference-based genetic screen in human cells to search for kinases whose knockdown synergizes with BRAF(V600E) inhibition. We report that blockade of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) shows strong synergy with BRAF(V600E) inhibition. We find in multiple BRAF(V600E) mutant colon cancers that inhibition of EGFR by the antibody drug cetuximab or the small-molecule drugs gefitinib or erlotinib is strongly synergistic with BRAF(V600E) inhibition, both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we find that BRAF(V600E) inhibition causes a rapid feedback activation of EGFR, which supports continued proliferation in the presence of BRAF(V600E) inhibition. Melanoma cells express low levels of EGFR and are therefore not subject to this feedback activation. Consistent with this, we find that ectopic expression of EGFR in melanoma cells is sufficient to cause resistance to PLX4032. Our data suggest that BRAF(V600E) mutant colon cancers (approximately 8-10% of all colon cancers), for which there are currently no targeted treatment options available, might benefit from combination therapy consisting of BRAF and EGFR inhibitors.     

Pannexin 1 channels mediate 'find-me' signal release and membrane permeability during apoptosis

Apoptotic cells release 'find-me' signals at the earliest stages of death to recruit phagocytes. The nucleotides ATP and UTP represent one class of find-me signals, but their mechanism of release is not known. Here, we identify the plasma membrane channel pannexin 1 (PANX1) as a mediator of find-me signal/nucleotide release from apoptotic cells. Pharmacological inhibition and siRNA-mediated knockdown of PANX1 led to decreased nucleotide release and monocyte recruitment by apoptotic cells. Conversely, PANX1 overexpression enhanced nucleotide release from apoptotic cells and phagocyte recruitment. Patch-clamp recordings showed that PANX1 was basally inactive, and that induction of PANX1 currents occurred only during apoptosis. Mechanistically, PANX1 itself was a target of effector caspases (caspases 3 and 7), and a specific caspase-cleavage site within PANX1 was essential for PANX1 function during apoptosis. Expression of truncated PANX1 (at the putative caspase cleavage site) resulted in a constitutively open channel. PANX1 was also important for the 'selective' plasma membrane permeability of early apoptotic cells to specific dyes. Collectively, these data identify PANX1 as a plasma membrane channel mediating the regulated release of find-me signals and selective plasma membrane permeability during apoptosis, and a new mechanism of PANX1 activation by caspases.     

Fluctuating stripes at the onset of the pseudogap in the high-T(c) superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+x)

Doped Mott insulators have a strong propensity to form patterns of holes and spins often referred to as stripes. In copper oxides, doping also gives rise to the pseudogap state, which can be transformed into a high-temperature superconducting state with sufficient doping or by reducing the temperature. A long-standing issue has been the interplay between the pseudogap, which is generic to all hole-doped copper oxide superconductors, and stripes, whose static form occurs in only one family of copper oxides over a narrow range of the phase diagram. Here we report observations of the spatial reorganization of electronic states with the onset of the pseudogap state in the high-temperature superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+x), using spectroscopic mapping with a scanning tunnelling microscope. We find that the onset of the pseudogap phase coincides with the appearance of electronic patterns that have the predicted characteristics of fluctuating stripes. As expected, the stripe patterns are strongest when the hole concentration in the CuO(2) planes is close to 1/8 (per copper atom). Although they demonstrate that the fluctuating stripes emerge with the onset of the pseudogap state and occur over a large part of the phase diagram, our experiments indicate that the stripes are a consequence of pseudogap behaviour rather than its cause.     

Assessment of morphometric characters to delimit species of Apolpium Chamberlin, 1930 (Pseudoscorpiones,Olpiidae)

ABSTRACT

Pseudoscorpiones is a mesodiverse order of Arachnida, with more than 3600 described species in the world. Species delimitation is sometimes difficult due to the high variability of some characters, difficulty in finding informative and useful characters for species differentiation and the subjectivity of individual specialists. The aim of this work is to explore and to evaluate the role of morphometric characters in species delimitation within the genus Apolpium (Olpiidae). Measurements of 17 structures of 57 individuals were taken and their length/width ratios calculated. Cluster analyses, principal components analyses, discriminant function analyses and non-metric multidimensional scaling were carried out. The results showed low resolution for the number of species currently recognised in the genus. These results highlight the importance of looking for other morphological characters, and also for a more rigorous assessment of previously used characters for defining species.