Natural polymorphisms in C. elegans HECW-1 E3 ligase affect pathogen avoidance behaviour

Heritable variation in behavioural traits generally has a complex genetic basis, and thus naturally occurring polymorphisms that influence behaviour have been defined only in rare instances. The isolation of wild strains of Caenorhabditis elegans has facilitated the study of natural genetic variation in this species and provided insights into its diverse microbial ecology. C. elegans responds to bacterial infection with conserved innate immune responses and, although lacking the immunological memory of vertebrate adaptive immunity, shows an aversive learning response to pathogenic bacteria. Here, we report the molecular characterization of naturally occurring coding polymorphisms in a C. elegans gene encoding a conserved HECT domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase, HECW-1. We show that two distinct polymorphisms in neighbouring residues of HECW-1 each affect C. elegans behavioural avoidance of a lawn of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Neuron-specific rescue and ablation experiments and genetic interaction analysis indicate that HECW-1 functions in a pair of sensory neurons to inhibit P. aeruginosa lawn avoidance behaviour through inhibition of the neuropeptide receptor NPR-1 (ref. 10), which we have previously shown promotes P. aeruginosa lawn avoidance behaviour. Our data establish a molecular basis for natural variation in a C. elegans behaviour that may undergo adaptive changes in response to microbial pathogens.     

Interferon-γ links ultraviolet radiation to melanomagenesis in mice

Cutaneous malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive and frequently chemoresistant cancer, the incidence of which continues to rise. Epidemiological studies show that the major aetiological melanoma risk factor is ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation, with the highest risk associated with intermittent burning doses, especially during childhood. We have experimentally validated these epidemiological findings using the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor transgenic mouse model, which develops lesions in stages highly reminiscent of human melanoma with respect to biological, genetic and aetiological criteria, but only when irradiated as neonatal pups with UVB, not UVA. However, the mechanisms underlying UVB-initiated, neonatal-specific melanomagenesis remain largely unknown. Here we introduce a mouse model permitting fluorescence-aided melanocyte imaging and isolation following in vivo UV irradiation. We use expression profiling to show that activated neonatal skin melanocytes isolated following a melanomagenic UVB dose bear a distinct, persistent interferon response signature, including genes associated with immunoevasion. UVB-induced melanocyte activation, characterized by aberrant growth and migration, was abolished by antibody-mediated systemic blockade of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), but not type-I interferons. IFN-γ was produced by macrophages recruited to neonatal skin by UVB-induced ligands to the chemokine receptor Ccr2. Admixed recruited skin macrophages enhanced transplanted melanoma growth by inhibiting apoptosis; notably, IFN-γ blockade abolished macrophage-enhanced melanoma growth and survival. IFN-γ-producing macrophages were also identified in 70% of human melanomas examined. Our data reveal an unanticipated role for IFN-γ in promoting melanocytic cell survival/immunoevasion, identifying a novel candidate therapeutic target for a subset of melanoma patients.     

Escherichia coli swim on the right-hand side

The motion of peritrichously flagellated bacteria close to surfaces is relevant to understanding the early stages of biofilm formation and of pathogenic infection. This motion differs from the random-walk trajectories of cells in free solution. Individual Escherichia coli cells swim in clockwise, circular trajectories near planar glass surfaces. On a semi-solid agar substrate, cells differentiate into an elongated, hyperflagellated phenotype and migrate cooperatively over the surface, a phenomenon called swarming. We have developed a technique for observing isolated E. coli swarmer cells moving on an agar substrate and confined in shallow, oxidized poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchannels. Here we show that cells in these microchannels preferentially 'drive on the right', swimming preferentially along the right wall of the microchannel (viewed from behind the moving cell, with the agar on the bottom). We propose that when cells are confined between two interfaces--one an agar gel and the second PDMS--they swim closer to the agar surface than to the PDMS surface (and for much longer periods of time), leading to the preferential movement on the right of the microchannel. Thus, the choice of materials guides the motion of cells in microchannels.     

Spider wasps of Colorado (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae): an annotated checklist

One hundred forty-three species of Pompilidae are recorded from Colorado, slightly more than half the number occurring north of Mexico. Some of these occur principally at higher altitudes or in the northern part of the state; this group includes 5 species of Holarctic distribution. Others (such as the tarantula hawks, Pepsis ) are prevalent across the southern third of the state and range south into New Mexico and often into Mexico. Still others are widely distributed wherever there is friable soil and suitable for nesting. Certain genera are more or less restricted to preying upon certain spider taxa, while others are generalists and a few are cleptoparasites of other Pompilidae.     

Sex ratios of the white-tailed antelope ground squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus), Indian Wells Valley, San Bernardino County, California

We studied the white-tailed antelope ground squirrel during spring and summer 2006 to determine young-of-the-year and adult sex ratios in the Indian Wells Valley, San Bernardino County, California. We calculated a young-of-the-year sex ratio of 1.45:1 (female to male), whereas the adult sex ratio was approximately 1:1. Our young-ofthe-year sex ratio was greater than the 1.1:1 (female to male) natal sex ratio previously reported. Differences between young-of-the-year and adult sex ratios may represent low female young-of-the-year survivorship in the Indian Wells Valley.     

Marine iguanas die from trace oil pollution

An oil tanker ran aground on the Galapagos island of San Cristóbal on 17 January 2001, spilling roughly three million litres of diesel and bunker oil. The slick started to spread westwards and was dispersed by strong currents, so only a few marine animals were killed immediately as a result. Here we draw on the long-term data sets gathered before the spill to show that a population of marine iguanas (Amblyrhychus cristatus) on Sante Fe island suffered a massive 62% mortality in the year after the accident, due to a small amount of residual oil contamination in the sea. Another population on the more remote island of Genovesa was unaffected.     

Bottom water warming in the North Pacific Ocean

Observations of changes in the properties of ocean waters have been restricted to surface or intermediate-depth waters, because the detection of change in bottom water is extremely difficult owing to the small magnitude of the expected signals. Nevertheless, temporal changes in the properties of such deep waters across an ocean basin are of particular interest, as they can be used to constrain the transport of water at the bottom of the ocean and to detect changes in the global thermohaline circulation. Here we present a comparison of a trans-Pacific survey completed in 1985 (refs 4, 5) and its repetition in 1999 (ref. 6). We find that the deepest waters of the North Pacific Ocean have warmed significantly across the entire width of the ocean basin. Our observations imply that changes in water properties are now detectable in water masses that have long been insulated from heat exchange with the atmosphere.