The Pristionchus pacificus genome provides a unique perspective on nematode lifestyle and parasitism

Here we present a draft genome sequence of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus, a species that is associated with beetles and is used as a model system in evolutionary biology. With 169 Mb and 23,500 predicted protein-coding genes, the P. pacificus genome is larger than those of Caenorhabditis elegans and the human parasite Brugia malayi. Compared to C. elegans, the P. pacificus genome has more genes encoding cytochrome P450 enzymes, glucosyltransferases, sulfotransferases and ABC transporters, many of which were experimentally validated. The P. pacificus genome contains genes encoding cellulase and diapausin, and cellulase activity is found in P. pacificus secretions, indicating that cellulases can be found in nematodes beyond plant parasites. The relatively higher number of detoxification and degradation enzymes in P. pacificus is consistent with its necromenic lifestyle and might represent a preadaptation for parasitism. Thus, comparative genomics analysis of three ecologically distinct nematodes offers a unique opportunity to investigate the association between genome structure and lifestyle.     

Untersuchungen zum Nachweis spezifischer Perzeptionsmechanismen im Drucksinn sessiler Krebse (Balanus balanus L. undBalanus improvisus Darwin)

Summary The mechanism of pressure sensitivity in marine invertebrates without gasfilled spaces is still obscure. Barmacles sum up supra- and subthreshold pressure stimuli with supra- and subthreshold shade stimuli. The subthreshold spatial summing up indicates that specific pressure receptors or receptor mechanisms exist.

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Gefördert von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Consumer versus resource control of species diversity and ecosystem functioning

A key question in ecology is which factors control species diversity in a community. Two largely separate groups of ecologists have emphasized the importance of productivity or resource supply, and consumers or physical disturbance, respectively. These variables show unimodal relationships with diversity when manipulated in isolation. Recent multivariate models, however, predict that these factors interact, such that the disturbance diversity relationship depends on productivity, and vice versa. We tested these models in marine food webs, using field manipulations of nutrient resources and consumer pressure on rocky shores of contrasting productivity. Here we show that the effects of consumers and nutrients on diversity consistently depend on each other, and that the direction of their effects and peak diversity shift between sites of low and high productivity. Factorial meta-analysis of published experiments confirms these results across widely varying aquatic communities. Furthermore, our experiments demonstrate that these patterns extend to important ecosystem functions such as carbon storage and nitrogen retention. This suggests that human impacts on nutrient supply and food-web structure have strong and interdependent effects on species diversity and ecosystem functioning, and must therefore be managed together.     

Perception of constant hydrostatic pressure. A physiological basis for the vertical stratification of marine habitats

Summary This paper reports an experimental demonstration of the ability of sessile marine animals (Balanus balanus L., Crustacea, Cirripedia) to perceive constant hydrostatic pressure. The results suggest the presence inBalanus of a previously unknown sensory system with a tonic response. Such a system may also be present in freely moving animals, but be masked by their locomotor activity.This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Az. So 78/2).     

Diabetes alters drug metabolism--in vivo studies in a streptozotozin-diabetic rat model

The influence of experimental streptozotozin-induced diabetes on hepatic drug metabolism in vivo has been studied in rats, using 14CO2-exhalation after 14C-aminopyrine injection. Male diabetic rats showed a decreased (-18%), females an increased (+19%) 14CO2-exhalation compared to controls, indicating altered hepatic drug metabolism due to diabetes.     

Abnormal austenite-ferrite transformation behavior in pure iron

The austenite → ferrite transformation is themost important reaction route in the manufacture ofFe-based materials. Here the austenite (γ) → ferrite (α)transformation of pure iron was systematically explored byhigh-resolution dilatometry. Abnormal transformation ki-netics, multi-peak discontinuous reaction, was recognized inpure iron according to the variation of the ferrite-formationrate. The occurrence the one or the other type of γ→∝ trans-formation strongly depends on the grain size: the transfor-mation type changes from abnormal to normal (single-peakcontinuous reaction) with decreasing grain size. The inherentreason for the occurrence of abnormal transformation couldbe attributed to the repeated nucleation in front of the mov-ing γ/α interface induced by the accumulation of elastic andplastic accommodation energy.     

Wnt1 and BMP2: two factors recruiting multipotent neural crest progenitors isolated from adult bone marrow

Recent studies have shown that neural crest-derived progenitor cells can be found in diverse mammalian tissues including tissues that were not previously shown to contain neural crest derivatives, such as bone marrow. The identification of those "new" neural crest-derived progenitor cells opens new strategies for developing autologous cell replacement therapies in regenerative medicine. However, their potential use is still a challenge as only few neural crest-derived progenitor cells were found in those new accessible locations. In this study, we developed a protocol, based on wnt1 and BMP2 effects, to enrich neural crest-derived cells from adult bone marrow. Those two factors are known to maintain and stimulate the proliferation of embryonic neural crest stem cells, however, their effects have never been characterized on neural crest cells isolated from adult tissues. Using multiple strategies from microarray to 2D-DIGE proteomic analyses, we characterized those recruited neural crest-derived cells, defining their identity and their differentiating abilities.