TY - JOUR A1 - Endres, Leo M. A1 - Jungblut, Marvin A1 - Divyapicigil, Mustafa A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Stigloher, Christian A1 - Christodoulides, Myron A1 - Kim, Brandon J. A1 - Schubert-Unkmeir, Alexandra T1 - Development of a multicellular in vitro model of the meningeal blood-CSF barrier to study Neisseria meningitidis infection JF - Fluids and Barriers of the CNS N2 - Background Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening disease that occurs when pathogens such as Neisseria meningitidis cross the meningeal blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier (mBCSFB) and infect the meninges. Due to the human-specific nature of N. meningitidis, previous research investigating this complex host–pathogen interaction has mostly been done in vitro using immortalized brain endothelial cells (BECs) alone, which often do not retain relevant barrier properties in culture. Here, we developed physiologically relevant mBCSFB models using BECs in co-culture with leptomeningeal cells (LMCs) to examine N. meningitidis interaction. Methods We used BEC-like cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iBECs) or hCMEC/D3 cells in co-culture with LMCs derived from tumor biopsies. We employed TEM and structured illumination microscopy to characterize the models as well as bacterial interaction. We measured TEER and sodium fluorescein (NaF) permeability to determine barrier tightness and integrity. We then analyzed bacterial adherence and penetration of the cell barrier and examined changes in host gene expression of tight junctions as well as chemokines and cytokines in response to infection. Results Both cell types remained distinct in co-culture and iBECs showed characteristic expression of BEC markers including tight junction proteins and endothelial markers. iBEC barrier function as determined by TEER and NaF permeability was improved by LMC co-culture and remained stable for seven days. BEC response to N. meningitidis infection was not affected by LMC co-culture. We detected considerable amounts of BEC-adherent meningococci and a relatively small number of intracellular bacteria. Interestingly, we discovered bacteria traversing the BEC-LMC barrier within the first 24 h post-infection, when barrier integrity was still high, suggesting a transcellular route for N. meningitidis into the CNS. Finally, we observed deterioration of barrier properties including loss of TEER and reduced expression of cell-junction components at late time points of infection. Conclusions Here, we report, for the first time, on co-culture of human iPSC derived BECs or hCMEC/D3 with meningioma derived LMCs and find that LMC co-culture improves barrier properties of iBECs. These novel models allow for a better understanding of N. meningitidis interaction at the mBCSFB in a physiologically relevant setting. KW - brain endothelial cells KW - bacterial meningitis KW - meningeal blood-csf barrier KW - induced pluripotent stem cells KW - neisseria meningitidis KW - leptomeningeal cells Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300208 VL - 19 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Castillo, Ruth A1 - Wurdack, Mareike A1 - Pauli, Thomas A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Feldhaar, Heike A1 - Polidori, Carlo A1 - Niehuis, Oliver A1 - Schmitt, Thomas T1 - Evidence for a chemical arms race between cuckoo wasps of the genus Hedychrum and their distantly related host apoid wasps JF - BMC Ecology and Evolution N2 - Background Brood parasites can exert strong selection pressure on their hosts. Many brood parasites escape their detection by mimicking sensory cues of their hosts. However, there is little evidence whether or not the hosts are able to escape the parasites’ mimicry by changing these cues. We addressed this question by analyzing cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of Cerceris and Philanthus wasps and their brood parasites, cuckoo wasps mimicking the CHC profiles of their hosts. Some of these hosts use hydrocarbons to preserve their prey against fungal infestation and thus, they cannot significantly change their CHC composition in response to chemical mimicry by Hedychrum brood parasites. Results We found that the CHC overlap between brood parasites and their hosts was lower in case of host wasps not preserving their prey than in case of prey-preserving host wasps, whose CHC evolution is constrained. Furthermore, the CHC profiles in non-preserving host wasps is more strongly diversified in females than in males, thus in the sex that is chemically mimicked by brood parasites. Conclusion Our results provide evidence for a chemical arms race between those hosts that are liberated from stabilizing selection on their chemical template and their parasites. KW - chemical mimicry KW - philanthidae KW - hymenoptera KW - evolutionary arms race KW - cuticular hydrocarbons KW - chrysididae Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301289 VL - 22 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brenzinger, Kristof A1 - Maihoff, Fabienne A1 - Peters, Marcell K. A1 - Schimmer, Leonie A1 - Bischler, Thorsten A1 - Classen, Alice T1 - Temperature and livestock grazing trigger transcriptome responses in bumblebees along an elevational gradient JF - iScience N2 - Climate and land-use changes cause increasing stress to pollinators but the molecular pathways underlying stress responses are poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomic response of Bombus lucorum workers to temperature and livestock grazing. Bumblebees sampled along an elevational gradient, and from differently managed grassland sites (livestock grazing vs unmanaged) in the German Alps did not differ in the expression of genes known for thermal stress responses. Instead, metabolic energy production pathways were upregulated in bumblebees sampled in mid- or high elevations or during cool temperatures. Extensive grazing pressure led to an upregulation of genetic pathways involved in immunoregulation and DNA-repair. We conclude that widespread bumblebees are tolerant toward temperature fluctuations in temperate mountain environments. Moderate temperature increases may even release bumblebees from metabolic stress. However, transcriptome responses to even moderate management regimes highlight the completely underestimated complexity of human influence on natural pollinators. KW - bumblebees KW - stress KW - transcriptomic response KW - climate changes Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301276 VL - 25 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balakrishnan, Ashwin A1 - Hemmen, Katherina A1 - Choudhury, Susobhan A1 - Krohn, Jan-Hagen A1 - Jansen, Kerstin A1 - Friedrich, Mike A1 - Beliu, Gerti A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Lohse, Martin J. A1 - Heinze, Katrin G. T1 - Unraveling the hidden temporal range of fast β2-adrenergic receptor mobility by time-resolved fluorescence JF - Communications Biology N2 - G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are hypothesized to possess molecular mobility over a wide temporal range. Until now the temporal range has not been fully accessible due to the crucially limited temporal range of available methods. This in turn, may lead relevant dynamic constants to remain masked. Here, we expand this dynamic range by combining fluorescent techniques using a spot confocal setup. We decipher mobility constants of β\(_{2}\)-adrenergic receptor over a wide time range (nanosecond to second). Particularly, a translational mobility (10 µm\(^{2}\)/s), one order of magnitude faster than membrane associated lateral mobility that explains membrane protein turnover and suggests a wider picture of the GPCR availability on the plasma membrane. And a so far elusive rotational mobility (1-200 µs) which depicts a previously overlooked dynamic component that, despite all complexity, behaves largely as predicted by the Saffman-Delbrück model. KW - G-protein-coupled receptors KW - molecular mobility KW - temporal range Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301140 VL - 5 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aydinli, Muharrem A1 - Liang, Chunguang A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - Motif and conserved module analysis in DNA (promoters, enhancers) and RNA (lncRNA, mRNA) using AlModules JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Nucleic acid motifs consist of conserved and variable nucleotide regions. For functional action, several motifs are combined to modules. The tool AIModules allows identification of such motifs including combinations of them and conservation in several nucleic acid stretches. AIModules recognizes conserved motifs and combinations of motifs (modules) allowing a number of interesting biological applications such as analysis of promoter and transcription factor binding sites (TFBS), identification of conserved modules shared between several gene families, e.g. promoter regions, but also analysis of shared and conserved other DNA motifs such as enhancers and silencers, in mRNA (motifs or regulatory elements e.g. for polyadenylation) and lncRNAs. The tool AIModules presented here is an integrated solution for motif analysis, offered as a Web service as well as downloadable software. Several nucleotide sequences are queried for TFBSs using predefined matrices from the JASPAR DB or by using one’s own matrices for diverse types of DNA or RNA motif discovery. Furthermore, AIModules can find TFBSs common to two or more sequences. Demanding high or low conservation, AIModules outperforms other solutions in speed and finds more modules (specific combinations of TFBS) than alternative available software. The application also searches RNA motifs such as polyadenylation site or RNA–protein binding motifs as well as DNA motifs such as enhancers as well as user-specified motif combinations (https://bioinfo-wuerz.de/aimodules/; alternative entry pages: https://aimodules.heinzelab.de or https://www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/bioinfo/computing/aimodules). The application is free and open source whether used online, on-site, or locally. KW - AIModules KW - nucleic acid motifs KW - DNA Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301268 VL - 12 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, Alice A1 - Meyer, Hanna A1 - Otte, Insa A1 - Peters, Marcell K. A1 - Appelhans, Tim A1 - Behler, Christina A1 - Böhning-Gaese, Katrin A1 - Classen, Alice A1 - Detsch, Florian A1 - Deckert, Jürgen A1 - Eardley, Connal D. A1 - Ferger, Stefan W. A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Gebert, Friederike A1 - Haas, Michael A1 - Helbig-Bonitz, Maria A1 - Hemp, Andreas A1 - Hemp, Claudia A1 - Kakengi, Victor A1 - Mayr, Antonia V. A1 - Ngereza, Christine A1 - Reudenbach, Christoph A1 - Röder, Juliane A1 - Rutten, Gemma A1 - Schellenberger Costa, David A1 - Schleuning, Matthias A1 - Ssymank, Axel A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Tardanico, Joseph A1 - Tschapka, Marco A1 - Vollstädt, Maximilian G. R. A1 - Wöllauer, Stephan A1 - Zhang, Jie A1 - Brandl, Roland A1 - Nauss, Thomas T1 - Potential of airborne LiDAR derived vegetation structure for the prediction of animal species richness at Mount Kilimanjaro JF - Remote Sensing N2 - The monitoring of species and functional diversity is of increasing relevance for the development of strategies for the conservation and management of biodiversity. Therefore, reliable estimates of the performance of monitoring techniques across taxa become important. Using a unique dataset, this study investigates the potential of airborne LiDAR-derived variables characterizing vegetation structure as predictors for animal species richness at the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. To disentangle the structural LiDAR information from co-factors related to elevational vegetation zones, LiDAR-based models were compared to the predictive power of elevation models. 17 taxa and 4 feeding guilds were modeled and the standardized study design allowed for a comparison across the assemblages. Results show that most taxa (14) and feeding guilds (3) can be predicted best by elevation with normalized RMSE values but only for three of those taxa and two of those feeding guilds the difference to other models is significant. Generally, modeling performances between different models vary only slightly for each assemblage. For the remaining, structural information at most showed little additional contribution to the performance. In summary, LiDAR observations can be used for animal species prediction. However, the effort and cost of aerial surveys are not always in proportion with the prediction quality, especially when the species distribution follows zonal patterns, and elevation information yields similar results. KW - biodiversity KW - species richness KW - LiDAR KW - elevation KW - partial least square regression KW - arthropods KW - birds KW - bats KW - predictive modeling Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262251 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 14 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reis, Helena A1 - Schwebs, Marie A1 - Dietz, Sabrina A1 - Janzen, Christian J. A1 - Butter, Falk T1 - TelAP1 links telomere complexes with developmental expression site silencing in African trypanosomes JF - Nucleic Acids Research N2 - During its life cycle, Trypanosoma brucei shuttles between a mammalian host and the tsetse fly vector. In the mammalian host, immune evasion of T. brucei bloodstream form (BSF) cells relies on antigenic variation, which includes monoallelic expression and periodic switching of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes. The active VSG is transcribed from only 1 of the 15 subtelomeric expression sites (ESs). During differentiation from BSF to the insect-resident procyclic form (PCF), the active ES is transcriptionally silenced. We used mass spectrometry-based interactomics to determine the composition of telomere protein complexes in T. brucei BSF and PCF stages to learn more about the structure and functions of telomeres in trypanosomes. Our data suggest a different telomere complex composition in the two forms of the parasite. One of the novel telomere-associated proteins, TelAP1, forms a complex with telomeric proteins TbTRF, TbRAP1 and TbTIF2 and influences ES silencing kinetics during developmental differentiation. KW - Gene Regulation KW - Chromatin and Epigenetics Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225180 VL - 46 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ribitsch, Iris A1 - Peham, Christian A1 - Ade, Nicole A1 - Duerr, Julia A1 - Handschuh, Stephan A1 - Schramel, Johannes Peter A1 - Vogl, Claus A1 - Walles, Heike A1 - Egerbacher, Monika A1 - Jenner, Florian T1 - Structure-Function relationships of equine menisci JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Meniscal pathologies are among the most common injuries of the femorotibial joint in both human and equine patients. Pathological forces and ensuing injuries of the cranial horn of the equine medial meniscus are considered analogous to those observed in the human posterior medial horn. Biomechanical properties of human menisci are site-and depth-specific. However, the influence of equine meniscus topography and composition on its biomechanical properties is yet unknown. A better understanding of equine meniscus composition and biomechanics could advance not only veterinary therapies for meniscus degeneration or injuries, but also further substantiate the horse as suitable translational animal model for (human) meniscus tissue engineering. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the composition and structure of the equine knee meniscus in a site-and age-specific manner and their relationship with potential site-specific biomechanical properties. The meniscus architecture was investigated histologically. Biomechanical testing included evaluation of the shore hardness (SH), stiffness and energy loss of the menisci. The SH was found to be subjected to both age and site-specific changes, with an overall higher SH of the tibial meniscus surface and increase in SH with age. Stiffness and energy loss showed neither site nor age related significant differences. The macroscopic and histologic similarities between equine and human menisci described in this study, support continued research in this field. KW - Human Medial Meniscus KW - Articular-Cartilage KW - Biomechanical Properties KW - Compressive Properties KW - Human Knee KW - Collagen KW - Injuries KW - Models KW - Repair KW - Osteoarthritis Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225214 VL - 13 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thölken, Clemens A1 - Thamm, Markus A1 - Erbacher, Christoph A1 - Lechner, Marcus T1 - Sequence and structural properties of circular RNAs in the brain of nurse and forager honeybees (Apis mellifera) JF - BMC Genomics N2 - Background The honeybee (Apis mellifera) represents a model organism for social insects displaying behavioral plasticity. This is reflected by an age-dependent task allocation. The most protruding tasks are performed by young nurse bees and older forager bees that take care of the brood inside the hive and collect food from outside the hive, respectively. The molecular mechanism leading to the transition from nurse bees to foragers is currently under intense research. Circular RNAs, however, were not considered in this context so far. As of today, this group of non-coding RNAs was only known to exist in two other insects, Drosophila melanogaster and Bombyx mori. Here we complement the state of circular RNA research with the first characterization in a social insect. Results We identified numerous circular RNAs in the brain of A. mellifera nurse bees and forager bees using RNA-Seq with exonuclease enrichment. Presence and circularity were verified for the most abundant representatives. Back-splicing in honeybee occurs further towards the end of transcripts and in transcripts with a high number of exons. The occurrence of circularized exons is correlated with length and CpG-content of their flanking introns. The latter coincides with increased DNA-methylation in the respective loci. For two prominent circular RNAs the abundance in worker bee brains was quantified in TaqMan assays. In line with previous findings of circular RNAs in Drosophila, circAmrsmep2 accumulates with increasing age of the insect. In contrast, the levels of circAmrad appear age-independent and correlate with the bee's task. Its parental gene is related to amnesia-resistant memory. Conclusions We provide the first characterization of circRNAs in a social insect. Many of the RNAs identified here show homologies to circular RNAs found in Drosophila and Bombyx, indicating that circular RNAs are a common feature among insects. We find that exon circularization is correlated to DNA-methylation at the flanking introns. The levels of circAmrad suggest a task-dependent abundance that is decoupled from age. Moreover, a GO term analysis shows an enrichment of task-related functions. We conclude that circular RNAs could be relevant for task allocation in honeybee and should be investigated further in this context. KW - circRNA KW - circular transcriptome sequencing KW - honeybee KW - brain KW - neuronal KW - Methylation KW - CpG KW - alternative splicing KW - behavioral plasticity Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241302 VL - 20 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Peindl, Matthias A1 - Göttlich, Claudia A1 - Crouch, Samantha A1 - Hoff, Niklas A1 - Lüttgens, Tamara A1 - Schmitt, Franziska A1 - Pereira, Jesús Guillermo Nieves A1 - May, Celina A1 - Schliermann, Anna A1 - Kronenthaler, Corinna A1 - Cheufou, Danjouma A1 - Reu-Hofer, Simone A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Weigl, Elena A1 - Walles, Thorsten A1 - Schüler, Julia A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Nietzer, Sarah A1 - Dandekar, Gudrun T1 - EMT, stemness, and drug resistance in biological context: a 3D tumor tissue/in silico platform for analysis of combinatorial treatment in NSCLC with aggressive KRAS-biomarker signatures JF - Cancers N2 - Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is discussed to be centrally involved in invasion, stemness, and drug resistance. Experimental models to evaluate this process in its biological complexity are limited. To shed light on EMT impact and test drug response more reliably, we use a lung tumor test system based on a decellularized intestinal matrix showing more in vivo-like proliferation levels and enhanced expression of clinical markers and carcinogenesis-related genes. In our models, we found evidence for a correlation of EMT with drug resistance in primary and secondary resistant cells harboring KRAS\(^{G12C}\) or EGFR mutations, which was simulated in silico based on an optimized signaling network topology. Notably, drug resistance did not correlate with EMT status in KRAS-mutated patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cell lines, and drug efficacy was not affected by EMT induction via TGF-β. To investigate further determinants of drug response, we tested several drugs in combination with a KRAS\(^{G12C}\) inhibitor in KRAS\(^{G12C}\) mutant HCC44 models, which, besides EMT, display mutations in P53, LKB1, KEAP1, and high c-MYC expression. We identified an aurora-kinase A (AURKA) inhibitor as the most promising candidate. In our network, AURKA is a centrally linked hub to EMT, proliferation, apoptosis, LKB1, and c-MYC. This exemplifies our systemic analysis approach for clinical translation of biomarker signatures. KW - EMT KW - drug resistance KW - invasion KW - stemness KW - 3D lung tumor tissue models KW - KRAS biomarker signatures KW - boolean in silico models KW - targeted combination therapy Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270744 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 14 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koderer, Corinna A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - Wünsch, Anna Chiara A1 - Balint, Julia A1 - El-Mesery, Mohamed A1 - Volland, Julian Manuel A1 - Hartmann, Stefan A1 - Linz, Christian A1 - Kübler, Alexander Christian A1 - Seher, Axel T1 - Low energy status under methionine restriction is essentially independent of proliferation or cell contact inhibition JF - Cells N2 - Nonlimited proliferation is one of the most striking features of neoplastic cells. The basis of cell division is the sufficient presence of mass (amino acids) and energy (ATP and NADH). A sophisticated intracellular network permanently measures the mass and energy levels. Thus, in vivo restrictions in the form of amino acid, protein, or caloric restrictions strongly affect absolute lifespan and age-associated diseases such as cancer. The induction of permanent low energy metabolism (LEM) is essential in this process. The murine cell line L929 responds to methionine restriction (MetR) for a short time period with LEM at the metabolic level defined by a characteristic fingerprint consisting of the molecules acetoacetate, creatine, spermidine, GSSG, UDP-glucose, pantothenate, and ATP. Here, we used mass spectrometry (LC/MS) to investigate the influence of proliferation and contact inhibition on the energy status of cells. Interestingly, the energy status was essentially independent of proliferation or contact inhibition. LC/MS analyses showed that in full medium, the cells maintain active and energetic metabolism for optional proliferation. In contrast, MetR induced LEM independently of proliferation or contact inhibition. These results are important for cell behaviour under MetR and for the optional application of restrictions in cancer therapy. KW - methionine restriction KW - caloric restriction KW - mass spectrometry KW - LC/MS KW - liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry KW - metabolomics KW - L929 KW - amino acid KW - proliferation KW - contact inhibition Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262329 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 11 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheib, Ulrike A1 - Broser, Matthias A1 - Constantin, Oana M. A1 - Yang, Shang A1 - Gao, Shiqiang A1 - Mukherjee, Shatanik A1 - Stehfest, Katja A1 - Nagel, Georg A1 - Gee, Christine E. A1 - Hegemann, Peter T1 - Rhodopsin-cyclases for photocontrol of cGMP/cAMP and 2.3 Å structure of the adenylyl cyclase domain JF - Nature Communications N2 - The cyclic nucleotides cAMP and cGMP are important second messengers that orchestrate fundamental cellular responses. Here, we present the characterization of the rhodopsinguanylyl cyclase from Catenaria anguillulae (CaRhGC), which produces cGMP in response to green light with a light to dark activity ratio > 1000. After light excitation the putative signaling state forms with tau = 31 ms and decays with tau = 570 ms. Mutations (up to 6) within the nucleotide binding site generate rhodopsin-adenylyl cyclases (CaRhACs) of which the double mutated YFP-CaRhAC (E497K/C566D) is the most suitable for rapid cAMP production in neurons. Furthermore, the crystal structure of the ligand-bound AC domain (2.25 angstrom) reveals detailed information about the nucleotide binding mode within this recently discovered class of enzyme rhodopsin. Both YFP-CaRhGC and YFP-CaRhAC are favorable optogenetic tools for non-invasive, cell-selective, and spatio-temporally precise modulation of cAMP/cGMP with light. KW - Enzymes KW - Molecular biophysics KW - Molecular neuroscience KW - X-ray crystallography Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228517 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dhillon, Maninder Singh A1 - Dahms, Thorsten A1 - Kuebert-Flock, Carina A1 - Rummler, Thomas A1 - Arnault, Joel A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Ullmann, Tobias T1 - Integrating random forest and crop modeling improves the crop yield prediction of winter wheat and oil seed rape JF - Frontiers in Remote Sensing N2 - The fast and accurate yield estimates with the increasing availability and variety of global satellite products and the rapid development of new algorithms remain a goal for precision agriculture and food security. However, the consistency and reliability of suitable methodologies that provide accurate crop yield outcomes still need to be explored. The study investigates the coupling of crop modeling and machine learning (ML) to improve the yield prediction of winter wheat (WW) and oil seed rape (OSR) and provides examples for the Free State of Bavaria (70,550 km2), Germany, in 2019. The main objectives are to find whether a coupling approach [Light Use Efficiency (LUE) + Random Forest (RF)] would result in better and more accurate yield predictions compared to results provided with other models not using the LUE. Four different RF models [RF1 (input: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)), RF2 (input: climate variables), RF3 (input: NDVI + climate variables), RF4 (input: LUE generated biomass + climate variables)], and one semi-empiric LUE model were designed with different input requirements to find the best predictors of crop monitoring. The results indicate that the individual use of the NDVI (in RF1) and the climate variables (in RF2) could not be the most accurate, reliable, and precise solution for crop monitoring; however, their combined use (in RF3) resulted in higher accuracies. Notably, the study suggested the coupling of the LUE model variables to the RF4 model can reduce the relative root mean square error (RRMSE) from −8% (WW) and −1.6% (OSR) and increase the R 2 by 14.3% (for both WW and OSR), compared to results just relying on LUE. Moreover, the research compares models yield outputs by inputting three different spatial inputs: Sentinel-2(S)-MOD13Q1 (10 m), Landsat (L)-MOD13Q1 (30 m), and MOD13Q1 (MODIS) (250 m). The S-MOD13Q1 data has relatively improved the performance of models with higher mean R 2 [0.80 (WW), 0.69 (OSR)], and lower RRMSE (%) (9.18, 10.21) compared to L-MOD13Q1 (30 m) and MOD13Q1 (250 m). Satellite-based crop biomass, solar radiation, and temperature are found to be the most influential variables in the yield prediction of both crops. KW - crop modeling KW - random forest KW - machine learning KW - NDVI KW - satellite KW - landsat KW - sentinel-2 KW - winter wheat Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301462 SN - 2673-6187 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heydarian, Motaharehsadat A1 - Rühl, Eva A1 - Rawal, Ravisha A1 - Kozjak-Pavlovic, Vera T1 - Tissue models for Neisseria gonorrhoeae research — from 2D to 3D JF - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology N2 - Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a human-specific pathogen that causes gonorrhea, the second most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Disease progression, drug discovery, and basic host-pathogen interactions are studied using different approaches, which rely on models ranging from 2D cell culture to complex 3D tissues and animals. In this review, we discuss the models used in N. gonorrhoeae research. We address both in vivo (animal) and in vitro cell culture models, discussing the pros and cons of each and outlining the recent advancements in the field of three-dimensional tissue models. From simple 2D monoculture to complex advanced 3D tissue models, we provide an overview of the relevant methodology and its application. Finally, we discuss future directions in the exciting field of 3D tissue models and how they can be applied for studying the interaction of N. gonorrhoeae with host cells under conditions closely resembling those found at the native sites of infection. KW - ex vivo KW - biomimetic tissue models KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae KW - in vivo KW - in vitro Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-263046 SN - 2235-2988 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grebinyk, Anna A1 - Prylutska, Svitlana A1 - Grebinyk, Sergii A1 - Prylutskyy, Yuriy A1 - Ritter, Uwe A1 - Matyshevska, Olga A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Frohme, Marcus T1 - Complexation with C\(_{60}\) fullerene increases doxorubicin efficiency against leukemic cells in vitro JF - Nanoscale Research Letters N2 - Conventional anticancer chemotherapy is limited because of severe side effects as well as a quickly evolving multidrug resistance of the tumor cells. To address this problem, we have explored a C\(_{60}\) fullerene-based nanosized system as a carrier for anticancer drugs for an optimized drug delivery to leukemic cells.Here, we studied the physicochemical properties and anticancer activity of C\(_{60}\) fullerene noncovalent complexes with the commonly used anticancer drug doxorubicin. C\(_{60}\)-Doxorubicin complexes in a ratio 1:1 and 2:1 were characterized with UV/Vis spectrometry, dynamic light scattering, and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The obtained analytical data indicated that the 140-nm complexes were stable and could be used for biological applications. In leukemic cell lines (CCRF-CEM, Jurkat, THP1 and Molt-16), the nanocomplexes revealed 3.5 higher cytotoxic potential in comparison with the free drug in a range of nanomolar concentrations. Also, the intracellular drug's level evidenced C\(_{60}\) fullerene considerable nanocarrier function.The results of this study indicated that C\(_{60}\) fullerene-based delivery nanocomplexes had a potential value for optimization of doxorubicin efficiency against leukemic cells. KW - C-60 fullerene KW - doxorubicin KW - noncovalent complex KW - leukemic cells KW - cytotoxicity KW - accumulation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228257 VL - 14 IS - 61 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Viljur, Mari‐Liis A1 - Abella, Scott R. A1 - Adámek, Martin A1 - Alencar, Janderson Batista Rodrigues A1 - Barber, Nicholas A. A1 - Beudert, Burkhard A1 - Burkle, Laura A. A1 - Cagnolo, Luciano A1 - Campos, Brent R. A1 - Chao, Anne A1 - Chergui, Brahim A1 - Choi, Chang‐Yong A1 - Cleary, Daniel F. R. A1 - Davis, Thomas Seth A1 - Dechnik‐Vázquez, Yanus A. A1 - Downing, William M. A1 - Fuentes‐Ramirez, Andrés A1 - Gandhi, Kamal J. K. A1 - Gehring, Catherine A1 - Georgiev, Kostadin B. A1 - Gimbutas, Mark A1 - Gongalsky, Konstantin B. A1 - Gorbunova, Anastasiya Y. A1 - Greenberg, Cathryn H. A1 - Hylander, Kristoffer A1 - Jules, Erik S. A1 - Korobushkin, Daniil I. A1 - Köster, Kajar A1 - Kurth, Valerie A1 - Lanham, Joseph Drew A1 - Lazarina, Maria A1 - Leverkus, Alexandro B. A1 - Lindenmayer, David A1 - Marra, Daniel Magnabosco A1 - Martín‐Pinto, Pablo A1 - Meave, Jorge A. A1 - Moretti, Marco A1 - Nam, Hyun‐Young A1 - Obrist, Martin K. A1 - Petanidou, Theodora A1 - Pons, Pere A1 - Potts, Simon G. A1 - Rapoport, Irina B. A1 - Rhoades, Paul R. A1 - Richter, Clark A1 - Saifutdinov, Ruslan A. A1 - Sanders, Nathan J. A1 - Santos, Xavier A1 - Steel, Zachary A1 - Tavella, Julia A1 - Wendenburg, Clara A1 - Wermelinger, Beat A1 - Zaitsev, Andrey S. A1 - Thorn, Simon T1 - The effect of natural disturbances on forest biodiversity: an ecological synthesis JF - Biological Reviews N2 - Disturbances alter biodiversity via their specific characteristics, including severity and extent in the landscape, which act at different temporal and spatial scales. Biodiversity response to disturbance also depends on the community characteristics and habitat requirements of species. Untangling the mechanistic interplay of these factors has guided disturbance ecology for decades, generating mixed scientific evidence of biodiversity responses to disturbance. Understanding the impact of natural disturbances on biodiversity is increasingly important due to human‐induced changes in natural disturbance regimes. In many areas, major natural forest disturbances, such as wildfires, windstorms, and insect outbreaks, are becoming more frequent, intense, severe, and widespread due to climate change and land‐use change. Conversely, the suppression of natural disturbances threatens disturbance‐dependent biota. Using a meta‐analytic approach, we analysed a global data set (with most sampling concentrated in temperate and boreal secondary forests) of species assemblages of 26 taxonomic groups, including plants, animals, and fungi collected from forests affected by wildfires, windstorms, and insect outbreaks. The overall effect of natural disturbances on α‐diversity did not differ significantly from zero, but some taxonomic groups responded positively to disturbance, while others tended to respond negatively. Disturbance was beneficial for taxonomic groups preferring conditions associated with open canopies (e.g. hymenopterans and hoverflies), whereas ground‐dwelling groups and/or groups typically associated with shady conditions (e.g. epigeic lichens and mycorrhizal fungi) were more likely to be negatively impacted by disturbance. Across all taxonomic groups, the highest α‐diversity in disturbed forest patches occurred under moderate disturbance severity, i.e. with approximately 55% of trees killed by disturbance. We further extended our meta‐analysis by applying a unified diversity concept based on Hill numbers to estimate α‐diversity changes in different taxonomic groups across a gradient of disturbance severity measured at the stand scale and incorporating other disturbance features. We found that disturbance severity negatively affected diversity for Hill number q = 0 but not for q = 1 and q = 2, indicating that diversity–disturbance relationships are shaped by species relative abundances. Our synthesis of α‐diversity was extended by a synthesis of disturbance‐induced change in species assemblages, and revealed that disturbance changes the β‐diversity of multiple taxonomic groups, including some groups that were not affected at the α‐diversity level (birds and woody plants). Finally, we used mixed rarefaction/extrapolation to estimate biodiversity change as a function of the proportion of forests that were disturbed, i.e. the disturbance extent measured at the landscape scale. The comparison of intact and naturally disturbed forests revealed that both types of forests provide habitat for unique species assemblages, whereas species diversity in the mixture of disturbed and undisturbed forests peaked at intermediate values of disturbance extent in the simulated landscape. Hence, the relationship between α‐diversity and disturbance severity in disturbed forest stands was strikingly similar to the relationship between species richness and disturbance extent in a landscape consisting of both disturbed and undisturbed forest habitats. This result suggests that both moderate disturbance severity and moderate disturbance extent support the highest levels of biodiversity in contemporary forest landscapes. KW - natural disturbance KW - diversity–disturbance relationship KW - disturbance severity KW - disturbance extent KW - intermediate disturbance hypothesis KW - forest communities KW - α‐diversity KW - β‐diversity Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-287168 VL - 97 IS - 5 SP - 1930 EP - 1947 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schenk, Mariela A1 - Mitesser, Oliver A1 - Hovestadt, Thomas A1 - Holzschuh, Andrea T1 - Overwintering temperature and body condition shift emergence dates of spring-emerging solitary bees JF - PeerJ N2 - Solitary bees in seasonal environments must align their life-cycles with favorable environmental conditions and resources; the timing of their emergence is highly fitness relevant. In several bee species, overwintering temperature influences both emergence date and body weight at emergence. High variability in emergence dates among specimens overwintering at the same temperatures suggests that the timing of emergence also depends on individual body conditions. However, possible causes for this variability, such as individual differences in body size or weight, have been rarely studied. In a climate chamber experiment using two spring-emerging mason bees (Osmia cornuta and O. bicornis), we investigated the relationship between temperature, emergence date, body weight, and body size, the last of which is not affected by overwintering temperature. Our study showed that body weight declined during hibernation more strongly in warm than in cold overwintering temperatures. Although bees emerged earlier in warm than in cold overwintering temperatures, at the time of emergence, bees in warm overwintering temperatures had lower body weights than bees in cold overwintering temperatures (exception of male O. cornuta). Among specimens that experienced the same overwintering temperatures, small and light bees emerged later than their larger and heavier conspecifics. Using a simple mechanistic model we demonstrated that spring-emerging solitary bees use a strategic approach and emerge at a date that is most promising for their individual fitness expectations. Our results suggest that warmer overwintering temperatures reduce bee fitness by causing a decrease in body weight at emergence. We showed furthermore that in order to adjust their emergence dates, bees use not only temperature but also their individual body condition as triggers. This may explain differing responses to climate warming within and among bee populations and may have consequences for bee-plant interactions as well as for the persistence of bee populations under climate change. KW - Wild bees KW - Timing KW - Fitness KW - Hibernation KW - Climate change KW - Mechanistic model KW - Osmia KW - Body weight KW - Body size KW - Pollinators Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228544 VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - König, Sebastian A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Bofinger, Lukas A1 - Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Phylogenetic relatedness of food plants reveals highest insect herbivore specialization at intermediate temperatures along a broad climatic gradient JF - Global Change Biology N2 - The composition and richness of herbivore and plant assemblages change along climatic gradients, but knowledge about associated shifts in specialization is scarce and lacks controlling for the abundance and phylogeny of interaction partners. Thus, we aimed to test whether the specialization of phytophagous insects in insect‐plant interaction networks decreases toward cold habitats as predicted by the ‘altitude niche‐breadth hypothesis’ to forecast possible consequences of interaction rewiring under climate change. We used a non‐invasive, standardized metabarcoding approach to reconstruct dietary relationships of Orthoptera species as a major insect herbivore taxon along a broad temperature gradient (~12°C) in Southern Germany. Based on Orthoptera surveys, feeding observations, collection of fecal pellets from >3,000 individuals of 54 species, and parallel vegetation surveys on 41 grassland sites, we quantified plant resource availability and its use by herbivores. Herbivore assemblages were richer in species and individuals at sites with high summer temperatures, while plant richness peaked at intermediate temperatures. Corresponding interaction networks were most specialized in warm habitats. Considering phylogenetic relationships of plant resources, however, the specialization pattern was not linear but peaked at intermediate temperatures, mediated by herbivores feeding on a narrow range of phylogenetically related resources. Our study provides empirical evidence of resource specialization of insect herbivores along a climatic gradient, demonstrating that resource phylogeny, availability, and temperature interactively shape the specialization of herbivore assemblages. Instead of low specialization levels only in cold, harsh habitats, our results suggest increased generalist feeding due to intraspecific changes and compositional differences at both ends of the microclimatic gradient. We conclude that this nonlinear change of phylogeny‐based resource specialization questions predictions derived from the ‘altitude‐niche breadth hypothesis’ and highlights the currently limited understanding of how plant‐herbivore interactions will change under future climatic conditions. KW - Alps KW - diet breadth KW - distance‐based specialization index KW - herbivores KW - interaction networks KW - metabarcoding KW - microclimate KW - Orthoptera KW - plant richness KW - temperature gradient Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-276441 VL - 28 IS - 13 SP - 4027 EP - 4040 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reinhard, Nils A1 - Bertolini, Enrico A1 - Saito, Aika A1 - Sekiguchi, Manabu A1 - Yoshii, Taishi A1 - Rieger, Dirk A1 - Helfrich‐Förster, Charlotte T1 - The lateral posterior clock neurons of Drosophila melanogaster express three neuropeptides and have multiple connections within the circadian clock network and beyond JF - Journal of Comparative Neurology N2 - Drosophila’s lateral posterior neurons (LPNs) belong to a small group of circadian clock neurons that is so far not characterized in detail. Thanks to a new highly specific split‐Gal4 line, here we describe LPNs’ morphology in fine detail, their synaptic connections, daily bimodal expression of neuropeptides, and propose a putative role of this cluster in controlling daily activity and sleep patterns. We found that the three LPNs are heterogeneous. Two of the neurons with similar morphology arborize in the superior medial and lateral protocerebrum and most likely promote sleep. One unique, possibly wakefulness‐promoting, neuron with wider arborizations extends from the superior lateral protocerebrum toward the anterior optic tubercle. Both LPN types exhibit manifold connections with the other circadian clock neurons, especially with those that control the flies’ morning and evening activity (M‐ and E‐neurons, respectively). In addition, they form synaptic connections with neurons of the mushroom bodies, the fan‐shaped body, and with many additional still unidentified neurons. We found that both LPN types rhythmically express three neuropeptides, Allostatin A, Allostatin C, and Diuretic Hormone 31 with maxima in the morning and the evening. The three LPN neuropeptides may, furthermore, signal to the insect hormonal center in the pars intercerebralis and contribute to rhythmic modulation of metabolism, feeding, and reproduction. We discuss our findings in the light of anatomical details gained by the recently published hemibrain of a single female fly on the electron microscopic level and of previous functional studies concerning the LPN. KW - activity KW - circadian clock neurons KW - insect brain KW - neuropeptides KW - sleep KW - trans‐Tango Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-276456 VL - 530 IS - 9 SP - 1507 EP - 1529 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mainz, Laura A1 - Sarhan, Mohamed A. F. E. A1 - Roth, Sabine A1 - Sauer, Ursula A1 - Maurus, Katja A1 - Hartmann, Elena M. A1 - Seibert, Helen-Desiree A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Diefenbacher, Markus E. A1 - Rosenfeldt, Mathias T. T1 - Autophagy blockage reduces the incidence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in the context of mutant Trp53 JF - Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology N2 - Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is a homeostatic process that preserves cellular integrity. In mice, autophagy regulates pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) development in a manner dependent on the status of the tumor suppressor gene Trp53. Studies published so far have investigated the impact of autophagy blockage in tumors arising from Trp53-hemizygous or -homozygous tissue. In contrast, in human PDACs the tumor suppressor gene TP53 is mutated rather than allelically lost, and TP53 mutants retain pathobiological functions that differ from complete allelic loss. In order to better represent the patient situation, we have investigated PDAC development in a well-characterized genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) of PDAC with mutant Trp53 (Trp53\(^{R172H}\)) and deletion of the essential autophagy gene Atg7. Autophagy blockage reduced PDAC incidence but had no impact on survival time in the subset of animals that formed a tumor. In the absence of Atg7, non-tumor-bearing mice reached a similar age as animals with malignant disease. However, the architecture of autophagy-deficient, tumor-free pancreata was effaced, normal acinar tissue was largely replaced with low-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs) and insulin expressing islet β-cells were reduced. Our data add further complexity to the interplay between Atg7 inhibition and Trp53 status in tumorigenesis. KW - pancreatic cancer KW - autophagy KW - p53 KW - metastasis KW - ATG7 Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266005 SN - 2296-634X VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hornick, Thomas A1 - Richter, Anett A1 - Harpole, William Stanley A1 - Bastl, Maximilian A1 - Bohlmann, Stephanie A1 - Bonn, Aletta A1 - Bumberger, Jan A1 - Dietrich, Peter A1 - Gemeinholzer, Birgit A1 - Grote, Rüdiger A1 - Heinold, Bernd A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Luttkus, Marie L. A1 - Mäder, Patrick A1 - Motivans Švara, Elena A1 - Passonneau, Sarah A1 - Punyasena, Surangi W. A1 - Rakosy, Demetra A1 - Richter, Ronny A1 - Sickel, Wiebke A1 - Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Theodorou, Panagiotis A1 - Treudler, Regina A1 - Werchan, Barbora A1 - Werchan, Matthias A1 - Wolke, Ralf A1 - Dunker, Susanne T1 - An integrative environmental pollen diversity assessment and its importance for the Sustainable Development Goals JF - Plants, People, Planet N2 - Societal Impact Statement Pollen relates to many aspects of human and environmental health, which protection and improvement are endorsed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By highlighting these connections in the frame of current challenges in monitoring and research, we discuss the need of more integrative and multidisciplinary pollen research related to societal needs, improving health of humans and our ecosystems for a sustainable future. Summary Pollen is at once intimately part of the reproductive cycle of seed plants and simultaneously highly relevant for the environment (pollinators, vector for nutrients, or organisms), people (food safety and health), and climate (cloud condensation nuclei and climate reconstruction). We provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the many and connected roles of pollen to foster a better integration of the currently disparate fields of pollen research, which would benefit from the sharing of general knowledge, technical advancements, or data processing solutions. We propose a more interdisciplinary and holistic research approach that encompasses total environmental pollen diversity (ePD) (wind and animal and occasionally water distributed pollen) at multiple levels of diversity (genotypic, phenotypic, physiological, chemical, and functional) across space and time. This interdisciplinary approach holds the potential to contribute to pressing human issues, including addressing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, fostering social and political awareness of these tiny yet important and fascinating particles. KW - aerobiology KW - allergy KW - diversity KW - environmental monitoring KW - food safety KW - paleoecology KW - palynology KW - pollination Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-276487 VL - 4 IS - 2 SP - 110 EP - 121 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Buellesbach, Jan A1 - Diao, Wenwen A1 - Schmitt, Thomas A1 - Beukeboom, Leo W. T1 - Micro‐climate correlations and conserved sexual dimorphism of cuticular hydrocarbons in European populations of the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis JF - Ecological Entomology N2 - 1. Protection against desiccation and chemical communication are two fundamental functions of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in insects. In the parasitoid jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Walker), characterised by a cosmopolitan distribution through largely different environments, CHCs function as universally recognised female sex pheromones. However, CHC uniformity as basis for sexual recognition may conflict with the desiccation protection function, expected to display considerable flexibility through adaptation to different environmental conditions. 2. We compared male and female CHC profiles of N. vitripennis across a wide latitudinal gradient in Europe and correlated their CHC variation with climatic factors associated with desiccation. Additionally, we tested male mate discrimination behaviour between populations to detect potential variations in female sexual attractiveness. 3. Results did not conform to the general expectation that longer, straight‐chain CHCs occur in higher proportions in warmer and drier climates. Instead, unexpected environmental correlations of intermediate chain‐length CHCs (C31) were found exclusively in females, potentially reflecting the different life histories of the sexes in N. vitripennis. 4. Furthermore, we found no indication of population‐specific male mate preference, confirming the stability of female sexual attractiveness, likely conveyed through their CHC profiles. C31 mono‐ and C33 di‐methyl‐branched alkanes were consistently and most strongly associated with sexual dimorphism, suggesting their potential role in encoding the female‐specific sexual signalling function. 5. Our study sheds light on how both adaptive flexibility and conserved sexual attractiveness can potentially be integrated and encoded in CHC profiles of N. vitripennis females across a wide distribution range in Europe. KW - chemical communication KW - climatic factors KW - desiccation resistance KW - sex pheromones KW - sexual dimorphism Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262770 VL - 47 IS - 1 SP - 38 EP - 51 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Venjakob, C. A1 - Ruedenauer, F. A. A1 - Klein, A.‐M. A1 - Leonhardt, S. D. T1 - Variation in nectar quality across 34 grassland plant species JF - Plant Biology N2 - Floral nectar is considered the most important floral reward for attracting pollinators. It contains large amounts of carbohydrates besides variable concentrations of amino acids and thus represents an important food source for many pollinators. Its nutrient content and composition can, however, strongly vary within and between plant species. The factors driving this variation in nectar quality are still largely unclear. We investigated factors underlying interspecific variation in macronutrient composition of floral nectar in 34 different grassland plant species. Specifically, we tested for correlations between the phylogenetic relatedness and morphology of plants and the carbohydrate (C) and total amino acid (AA) composition and C:AA ratios of nectar. We found that compositions of carbohydrates and (essential) amino acids as well as C:AA ratios in nectar varied significantly within and between plant species. They showed no clear phylogenetic signal. Moreover, variation in carbohydrate composition was related to family‐specific structural characteristics and combinations of morphological traits. Plants with nectar‐exposing flowers, bowl‐ or parabolic‐shaped flowers, as often found in the Apiaceae and Asteraceae, had nectar with higher proportions of hexoses, indicating a selective pressure to decelerate evaporation by increasing nectar osmolality. Our study suggests that variation in nectar nutrient composition is, among others, affected by family‐specific combinations of morphological traits. However, even within species, variation in nectar quality is high. As nectar quality can strongly affect visitation patterns of pollinators and thus pollination success, this intra‐ and interspecific variation requires more studies to fully elucidate the underlying causes and the consequences for pollinator behaviour. KW - flower morphology KW - flowering grassland plants KW - Jena Experiment KW - nectar macronutrients KW - phylogeny Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262612 VL - 24 IS - 1 SP - 134 EP - 144 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Alnusaire, Taghreed S. A1 - Sayed, Ahmed M. A1 - Elmaidomy, Abeer H. A1 - Al-Sanea, Mohammad M. A1 - Albogami, Sarah A1 - Albqmi, Mha A1 - Alowaiesh, Bassam F. A1 - Mostafa, Ehab M. A1 - Musa, Arafa A1 - Youssif, Khayrya A. A1 - Refaat, Hesham A1 - Othman, Eman M. A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Alaaeldin, Eman A1 - Ghoneim, Mohammed M. A1 - Abdelmohsen, Usama Ramadan T1 - An in vitro and in silico study of the enhanced antiproliferative and pro-oxidant potential of Olea europaea L. cv. Arbosana leaf extract via elastic nanovesicles (spanlastics) JF - Antioxidants N2 - The olive tree is a venerable Mediterranean plant and often used in traditional medicine. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of Olea europaea L. cv. Arbosana leaf extract (OLE) and its encapsulation within a spanlastic dosage form on the improvement of its pro-oxidant and antiproliferative activity against HepG-2, MCF-7, and Caco-2 human cancer cell lines. The LC-HRESIMS-assisted metabolomic profile of OLE putatively annotated 20 major metabolites and showed considerable in vitro antiproliferative activity against HepG-2, MCF-7, and Caco-2 cell lines with IC\(_{50}\) values of 9.2 ± 0.8, 7.1 ± 0.9, and 6.5 ± 0.7 µg/mL, respectively. The encapsulation of OLE within a (spanlastic) nanocarrier system, using a spraying method and Span 40 and Tween 80 (4:1 molar ratio), was successfully carried out (size 41 ± 2.4 nm, zeta potential 13.6 ± 2.5, and EE 61.43 ± 2.03%). OLE showed enhanced thermal stability, and an improved in vitro antiproliferative effect against HepG-2, MCF-7, and Caco-2 (IC\(_{50}\) 3.6 ± 0.2, 2.3 ± 0.1, and 1.8 ± 0.1 µg/mL, respectively) in comparison to the unprocessed extract. Both preparations were found to exhibit pro-oxidant potential inside the cancer cells, through the potential inhibitory activity of OLE against glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase (IC\(_{50}\) 1.18 ± 0.12 and 2.33 ± 0.19 µg/mL, respectively). These inhibitory activities were proposed via a comprehensive in silico study to be linked to the presence of certain compounds in OLE. Consequently, we assume that formulating such a herbal extract within a suitable nanocarrier would be a promising improvement of its therapeutic potential. KW - olive KW - metabolomic profiling KW - antiproliferative KW - pro-oxidant KW - encapsulation KW - spanlastic KW - nanocarrier KW - docking KW - molecular dynamics simulation KW - Olea Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-250064 SN - 2076-3921 VL - 10 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Graf, Marlene A1 - Lettenmaier, Ludwig A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Hagge, Jonas T1 - Saproxylic beetles trace deadwood and differentiate between deadwood niches before their arrival on potential hosts JF - Insect Conservation and Diversity N2 - Deadwood provides a variety of habitats for saproxylic beetles. Whereas the understanding of the drivers promoting saproxylic beetle diversity has improved, the process of deadwood colonisation and beetle's potential to trace resources is poorly understood. However, the mechanisms facilitating deadwood detection by saproxylic beetles appears to be essential for survival, as deadwood is usually scattered in time and space. To investigate whether saproxylic beetles distinguish before their arrival on potential hosts between alive trees and deadwood (lying, stumps, standing), deadwood arrangement (aggregated, distributed) and different heights on standing resources (bottom = 0.5 m, middle = 4–5 m, top = 7.30–11.60 m), we sampled saproxylic beetles with sticky traps in a deadwood experiment. We found on average 67% higher abundance, 100% higher species numbers and 50–130% higher species diversity of colonising saproxylic beetles consistently for all deadwood types compared to alive trees with a distinct community composition on lying deadwood compared to the other resource types. Aggregated deadwood arrangement, which is associated with higher sun‐exposure, had a positive effect on species richness. The abundance, species number and diversity, was significantly higher for standing deadwood and alive trees at the bottom section of tree trunks. In contrast to living trees, however, the vertical position had an additional effect on the community composition on standing deadwood. Our results indicate that saproxylic beetles are attracted to potential deadwood habitats and actively select specific trunk sections before arriving on potential hosts. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of sun‐exposed resources for species richness in saproxylic beetles. KW - deadwood KW - experiment KW - host discrimination KW - host selection KW - microclimate KW - saproxylic beetles KW - vertical stratification Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262507 VL - 15 IS - 1 SP - 48 EP - 60 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ruiz, E. Josue A1 - Diefenbacher, Markus E. A1 - Nelson, Jessica K. A1 - Sancho, Rocio A1 - Pucci, Fabio A1 - Chakraborty, Atanu A1 - Moreno, Paula A1 - Annibaldi, Alessandro A1 - Liccardi, Gianmaria A1 - Encheva, Vesela A1 - Mitter, Richard A1 - Rosenfeldt, Mathias A1 - Snijders, Ambrosius P. A1 - Meier, Pascal A1 - Calzado, Marco A. A1 - Behrens, Axel T1 - LUBAC determines chemotherapy resistance in squamous cell lung cancer JF - Journal of Experimental Medicine N2 - Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and adenocarcinoma (LADC) are the most common lung cancer subtypes. Molecular targeted treatments have improved LADC patient survival but are largely ineffective in LSCC. The tumor suppressor FBW7 is commonly mutated or down-regulated in human LSCC, and oncogenic KRasG12D activation combined with Fbxw7 inactivation in mice (KF model) caused both LSCC and LADC. Lineage-tracing experiments showed that CC10(+), but not basal, cells are the cells of origin of LSCC in KF mice. KF LSCC tumors recapitulated human LSCC resistance to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, and we identified LUBAC-mediated NF-kappa B signaling as a determinant of chemotherapy resistance in human and mouse. Inhibition of NF-kappa B activation using TAK1 or LUBAC inhibitors resensitized LSCC tumors to cisplatin, suggesting a future avenue for LSCC patient treatment. KW - Solid tumors Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-227146 VL - 216 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Makbul, Cihan A1 - Kraft, Christian A1 - Grießmann, Matthias A1 - Rasmussen, Tim A1 - Katzenberger, Kilian A1 - Lappe, Melina A1 - Pfarr, Paul A1 - Stoffer, Cato A1 - Stöhr, Mara A1 - Wandinger, Anna-Maria A1 - Böttcher, Bettina T1 - Binding of a pocket factor to Hepatitis B virus capsids changes the rotamer conformation of Phenylalanine 97 JF - Viruses N2 - (1) Background: During maturation of the Hepatitis B virus, a viral polymerase inside the capsid transcribes a pre-genomic RNA into a partly double stranded DNA-genome. This is followed by envelopment with surface proteins inserted into a membrane. Envelopment is hypothetically regulated by a structural signal that reports the maturation state of the genome. NMR data suggest that such a signal can be mimicked by the binding of the detergent Triton X 100 to hydrophobic pockets in the capsid spikes. (2) Methods: We have used electron cryo-microscopy and image processing to elucidate the structural changes that are concomitant with the binding of Triton X 100. (3) Results: Our maps show that Triton X 100 binds with its hydrophobic head group inside the pocket. The hydrophilic tail delineates the outside of the spike and is coordinated via Lys-96. The binding of Triton X 100 changes the rotamer conformation of Phe-97 in helix 4, which enables a π-stacking interaction with Trp-62 in helix 3. Similar changes occur in mutants with low secretion phenotypes (P5T and L60V) and in a mutant with a pre-mature secretion phenotype (F97L). (4) Conclusion: Binding of Triton X 100 is unlikely to mimic structural maturation because mutants with different secretion phenotypes show similar structural responses. KW - Hepatitis B Virus KW - pocket factor KW - Triton X 100 KW - envelopment KW - maturation signal KW - single strand blocking KW - electron cryo-microscopy KW - isothermal titration calorimetry Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248565 SN - 1999-4915 VL - 13 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schneider-Schaulies, Sibylle A1 - Schumacher, Fabian A1 - Wigger, Dominik A1 - Schöl, Marie A1 - Waghmare, Trushnal A1 - Schlegel, Jan A1 - Seibel, Jürgen A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard T1 - Sphingolipids: effectors and Achilles heals in viral infections? JF - Cells N2 - As viruses are obligatory intracellular parasites, any step during their life cycle strictly depends on successful interaction with their particular host cells. In particular, their interaction with cellular membranes is of crucial importance for most steps in the viral replication cycle. Such interactions are initiated by uptake of viral particles and subsequent trafficking to intracellular compartments to access their replication compartments which provide a spatially confined environment concentrating viral and cellular components, and subsequently, employ cellular membranes for assembly and exit of viral progeny. The ability of viruses to actively modulate lipid composition such as sphingolipids (SLs) is essential for successful completion of the viral life cycle. In addition to their structural and biophysical properties of cellular membranes, some sphingolipid (SL) species are bioactive and as such, take part in cellular signaling processes involved in regulating viral replication. It is especially due to the progress made in tools to study accumulation and dynamics of SLs, which visualize their compartmentalization and identify interaction partners at a cellular level, as well as the availability of genetic knockout systems, that the role of particular SL species in the viral replication process can be analyzed and, most importantly, be explored as targets for therapeutic intervention. KW - glycosphingolipids KW - ceramides KW - sphingosine 1-phosphate KW - sphingomyelinase KW - HIV KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - measles Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-245151 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 10 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prieto-Garcia, Cristian A1 - Tomašković, Ines A1 - Shah, Varun Jayeshkumar A1 - Dikic, Ivan A1 - Diefenbacher, Markus T1 - USP28: oncogene or tumor suppressor? a unifying paradigm for squamous cell carcinoma JF - Cells N2 - Squamous cell carcinomas are therapeutically challenging tumor entities. Low response rates to radiotherapy and chemotherapy are commonly observed in squamous patients and, accordingly, the mortality rate is relatively high compared to other tumor entities. Recently, targeting USP28 has been emerged as a potential alternative to improve the therapeutic response and clinical outcomes of squamous patients. USP28 is a catalytically active deubiquitinase that governs a plethora of biological processes, including cellular proliferation, DNA damage repair, apoptosis and oncogenesis. In squamous cell carcinoma, USP28 is strongly expressed and stabilizes the essential squamous transcription factor ΔNp63, together with important oncogenic factors, such as NOTCH1, c-MYC and c-JUN. It is presumed that USP28 is an oncoprotein; however, recent data suggest that the deubiquitinase also has an antineoplastic effect regulating important tumor suppressor proteins, such as p53 and CHK2. In this review, we discuss: (1) The emerging role of USP28 in cancer. (2) The complexity and mutational landscape of squamous tumors. (3) The genetic alterations and cellular pathways that determine the function of USP28 in squamous cancer. (4) The development and current state of novel USP28 inhibitors. KW - USP28 KW - SCC KW - USP25 KW - FBXW7 KW - Tp63 KW - c-MYC KW - ΔNp63 KW - p53 KW - cancer KW - DUB inhibitor KW - squamous Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248409 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 10 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schilcher, Felix A1 - Hilsmann, Lioba A1 - Rauscher, Lisa A1 - Değirmenci, Laura A1 - Krischke, Markus A1 - Krischke, Beate A1 - Ankenbrand, Markus A1 - Rutschmann, Benjamin A1 - Mueller, Martin J. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Scheiner, Ricarda T1 - In vitro rearing changes social task performance and physiology in honeybees JF - Insects N2 - In vitro rearing of honeybee larvae is an established method that enables exact control and monitoring of developmental factors and allows controlled application of pesticides or pathogens. However, only a few studies have investigated how the rearing method itself affects the behavior of the resulting adult honeybees. We raised honeybees in vitro according to a standardized protocol: marking the emerging honeybees individually and inserting them into established colonies. Subsequently, we investigated the behavioral performance of nurse bees and foragers and quantified the physiological factors underlying the social organization. Adult honeybees raised in vitro differed from naturally reared honeybees in their probability of performing social tasks. Further, in vitro-reared bees foraged for a shorter duration in their life and performed fewer foraging trips. Nursing behavior appeared to be unaffected by rearing condition. Weight was also unaffected by rearing condition. Interestingly, juvenile hormone titers, which normally increase strongly around the time when a honeybee becomes a forager, were significantly lower in three- and four-week-old in vitro bees. The effects of the rearing environment on individual sucrose responsiveness and lipid levels were rather minor. These data suggest that larval rearing conditions can affect the task performance and physiology of adult bees despite equal weight, pointing to an important role of the colony environment for these factors. Our observations of behavior and metabolic pathways offer important novel insight into how the rearing environment affects adult honeybees. KW - honeybee KW - artificial rearing KW - behavior KW - in vitro KW - juvenile hormone KW - triglycerides KW - PER KW - foraging KW - nursing Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-252305 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 13 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leonhardt, Sara D. A1 - Lihoreau, Mathieu A1 - Spaethe, Johannes T1 - Mechanisms of nutritional resource exploitation by insects JF - Insects N2 - Insects have evolved an extraordinary range of nutritional adaptations to exploit other animals, plants, bacteria, fungi and soils as resources in terrestrial and aquatic environments. This special issue provides some new insights into the mechanisms underlying these adaptations. Contributions comprise lab and field studies investigating the chemical, physiological, cognitive and behavioral mechanisms that enable resource exploitation and nutrient intake regulation in insects. The collection of papers highlights the need for more studies on the comparative sensory ecology, underlying nutritional quality assessment, cue perception and decision making to fully understand how insects adjust resource selection and exploitation in response to environmental heterogeneity and variability. KW - nutritional adaptations Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-211161 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fuss, Carmina Teresa A1 - Other, Katharina A1 - Heinze, Britta A1 - Landwehr, Laura-Sophie A1 - Wiegering, Armin A1 - Kalogirou, Charis A1 - Hahner, Stefanie A1 - Fassnacht, Martin T1 - Expression of the chemokine receptor CCR7 in the normal adrenal gland and adrenal tumors and its correlation with clinical outcome in adrenocortical carcinoma JF - Cancers N2 - Background: The chemokine receptor CCR7 is crucial for an intact immune function, but its expression is also associated with clinical outcome in several malignancies. No data exist on the expression of CCR7 in adrenocortical tumors. Methods: CCR7 expression was investigated by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in 4 normal adrenal glands, 59 adrenocortical adenomas, and 181 adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) samples. Results: CCR7 is highly expressed in the outer adrenocortical zones and medulla. Aldosterone-producing adenomas showed lower CCR7 protein levels (H-score 1.3 ± 1.0) compared to non-functioning (2.4 ± 0.5) and cortisol-producing adenomas (2.3 ± 0.6), whereas protein expression was variable in ACC (1.8 ± 0.8). In ACC, CCR7 protein expression was significantly higher in lymph node metastases (2.5 ± 0.5) compared to primary tumors (1.8±0.8) or distant metastases (2.0 ± 0.4; p < 0.01). mRNA levels of CCR7 were not significantly different between ACCs, normal adrenals, and adrenocortical adenomas. In contrast to other tumor entities, neither CCR7 protein nor mRNA expression significantly impacted patients' survival. Conclusion: We show that CCR7 is expressed on mRNA and protein level across normal adrenals, benign adrenocortical tumors, as well as ACCs. Given that CCR7 did not influence survival in ACC, it is probably not involved in tumor progression, but it could play a role in adrenocortical homeostasis. KW - CCR7 KW - chemokine receptor KW - adrenocortical carcinoma KW - adrenal tumors Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-250112 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 13 IS - 22 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Uphus, Lars A1 - Lüpke, Marvin A1 - Yuan, Ye A1 - Benjamin, Caryl A1 - Englmeier, Jana A1 - Fricke, Ute A1 - Ganuza, Cristina A1 - Schwindl, Michael A1 - Uhler, Johannes A1 - Menzel, Annette T1 - Climate effects on vertical forest phenology of Fagus sylvatica L., sensed by Sentinel-2, time lapse camera, and visual ground observations JF - Remote Sensing N2 - Contemporary climate change leads to earlier spring phenological events in Europe. In forests, in which overstory strongly regulates the microclimate beneath, it is not clear if further change equally shifts the timing of leaf unfolding for the over- and understory of main deciduous forest species, such as Fagus sylvatica L. (European beech). Furthermore, it is not known yet how this vertical phenological (mis)match — the phenological difference between overstory and understory — affects the remotely sensed satellite signal. To investigate this, we disentangled the start of season (SOS) of overstory F.sylvatica foliage from understory F. sylvatica foliage in forests, within nine quadrants of 5.8 × 5.8 km, stratified over a temperature gradient of 2.5 °C in Bavaria, southeast Germany, in the spring seasons of 2019 and 2020 using time lapse cameras and visual ground observations. We explained SOS dates and vertical phenological (mis)match by canopy temperature and compared these to Sentinel-2 derived SOS in response to canopy temperature. We found that overstory SOS advanced with higher mean April canopy temperature (visual ground observations: −2.86 days per °C; cameras: −2.57 days per °C). However, understory SOS was not significantly affected by canopy temperature. This led to an increase of vertical phenological mismatch with increased canopy temperature (visual ground observations: +3.90 days per °C; cameras: +2.52 days per °C). These results matched Sentinel-2-derived SOS responses, as pixels of higher canopy height advanced more by increased canopy temperature than pixels of lower canopy height. The results may indicate that, with further climate change, spring phenology of F. sylvatica overstory will advance more than F. sylvatica understory, leading to increased vertical phenological mismatch in temperate deciduous forests. This may have major ecological effects, but also methodological consequences for the field of remote sensing, as what the signal senses highly depends on the pixel mean canopy height and the vertical (mis)match. KW - overstory KW - understory KW - Sentinel-2 KW - time lapse cameras KW - vertical mismatch KW - phenological escape KW - climate change KW - European beech Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-248419 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 13 IS - 19 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pietro-Garcia, Christian A1 - Hartmann, Oliver A1 - Reissland, Michaela A1 - Fischer, Thomas A1 - Maier, Carina R. A1 - Rosenfeldt, Mathias A1 - Schülein-Völk, Christina A1 - Klann, Kevin A1 - Kalb, Reinhard A1 - Dikic, Ivan A1 - Münch, Christian A1 - Diefenbacher, Markus E. T1 - Inhibition of USP28 overcomes Cisplatin-resistance of squamous tumors by suppression of the Fanconi anemia pathway JF - Cell Death and Differentiation N2 - Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) frequently have an exceptionally high mutational burden. As consequence, they rapidly develop resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy and overall survival is limited. Novel therapeutic strategies are therefore urgently required. SCC express ∆Np63, which regulates the Fanconi Anemia (FA) DNA-damage response in cancer cells, thereby contributing to chemotherapy-resistance. Here we report that the deubiquitylase USP28 is recruited to sites of DNA damage in cisplatin-treated cells. ATR phosphorylates USP28 and increases its enzymatic activity. This phosphorylation event is required to positively regulate the DNA damage repair in SCC by stabilizing ∆Np63. Knock-down or inhibition of USP28 by a specific inhibitor weakens the ability of SCC to cope with DNA damage during platin-based chemotherapy. Hence, our study presents a novel mechanism by which ∆Np63 expressing SCC can be targeted to overcome chemotherapy resistance. Limited treatment options and low response rates to chemotherapy are particularly common in patients with squamous cancer. The SCC specific transcription factor ∆Np63 enhances the expression of Fanconi Anemia genes, thereby contributing to recombinational DNA repair and Cisplatin resistance. Targeting the USP28-∆Np63 axis in SCC tones down this DNA damage response pathways, thereby sensitizing SCC cells to cisplatin treatment. KW - USP28 KW - Cisplatin KW - squamous tumors Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-273014 SN - 1476-5403 VL - 29 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khayenko, Vladimir A1 - Maric, Hans Michael T1 - Innovative affinitätsbasierte Markierungen für die High-End-Mikroskopie JF - BIOspektrum N2 - Advanced tissue imaging techniques and super resolution microscopy are opening new avenues of investigations in life sciences. These mainly instrumentation-driven innovations require the development of appropriate molecular labelling tools. Here, we discuss currently used and upcoming manipulation-free protein labelling strategies and their potential for the precise and interference-free visualization of endogenous proteins. KW - Fluoreszenzsonden KW - High-End-Mikroskopie KW - Proteinmarkierungen Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-287377 VL - 27 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beer, Katharina A1 - Härtel, Stephan A1 - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte T1 - The pigment-dispersing factor neuronal network systematically grows in developing honey bees JF - The Journal of Comparative Neurology N2 - The neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) plays a prominent role in the circadian clock of many insects including honey bees. In the honey bee brain, PDF is expressed in about 15 clock neurons per hemisphere that lie between the central brain and the optic lobes. As in other insects, the bee PDF neurons form wide arborizations in the brain, but certain differences are evident. For example, they arborize only sparsely in the accessory medulla (AME), which serves as important communication center of the circadian clock in cockroaches and flies. Furthermore, all bee PDF neurons cluster together, which makes it impossible to distinguish individual projections. Here, we investigated the developing bee PDF network and found that the first three PDF neurons arise in the third larval instar and form a dense network of varicose fibers at the base of the developing medulla that strongly resembles the AME of hemimetabolous insects. In addition, they send faint fibers toward the lateral superior protocerebrum. In last larval instar, PDF cells with larger somata appear and send fibers toward the distal medulla and the medial protocerebrum. In the dorsal part of the medulla serpentine layer, a small PDF knot evolves from which PDF fibers extend ventrally. This knot disappears during metamorphosis and the varicose arborizations in the putative AME become fainter. Instead, a new strongly stained PDF fiber hub appears in front of the lobula. Simultaneously, the number of PDF neurons increases and the PDF neuronal network in the brain gets continuously more complex. KW - apis mellifera KW - circadian clock KW - immunohistochemistry KW - larval and pupal development KW - neuroanatomy Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257300 VL - 530 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mamontova, Victoria A1 - Trifault, Barbara A1 - Boten, Lea A1 - Burger, Kaspar T1 - Commuting to work: Nucleolar long non-coding RNA control ribosome biogenesis from near and far JF - Non-Coding RNA N2 - Gene expression is an essential process for cellular growth, proliferation, and differentiation. The transcription of protein-coding genes and non-coding loci depends on RNA polymerases. Interestingly, numerous loci encode long non-coding (lnc)RNA transcripts that are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and fine-tune the RNA metabolism. The nucleolus is a prime example of how different lncRNA species concomitantly regulate gene expression by facilitating the production and processing of ribosomal (r)RNA for ribosome biogenesis. Here, we summarise the current findings on how RNAPII influences nucleolar structure and function. We describe how RNAPII-dependent lncRNA can both promote nucleolar integrity and inhibit ribosomal (r)RNA synthesis by modulating the availability of rRNA synthesis factors in trans. Surprisingly, some lncRNA transcripts can directly originate from nucleolar loci and function in cis. The nucleolar intergenic spacer (IGS), for example, encodes nucleolar transcripts that counteract spurious rRNA synthesis in unperturbed cells. In response to DNA damage, RNAPII-dependent lncRNA originates directly at broken ribosomal (r)DNA loci and is processed into small ncRNA, possibly to modulate DNA repair. Thus, lncRNA-mediated regulation of nucleolar biology occurs by several modes of action and is more direct than anticipated, pointing to an intimate crosstalk of RNA metabolic events. KW - long non-coding RNA KW - RNA polymerase II KW - nucleolus KW - ribosome biogenesis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242756 SN - 2311-553X VL - 7 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grassinger, Julia Maria A1 - Floren, Andreas A1 - Müller, Tobias A1 - Cerezo-Echevarria, Argiñe A1 - Beitzinger, Christoph A1 - Conrad, David A1 - Törner, Katrin A1 - Staudacher, Marlies A1 - Aupperle-Lellbach, Heike T1 - Digital lesions in dogs: a statistical breed analysis of 2912 cases JF - Veterinary Sciences N2 - Breed predispositions to canine digital neoplasms are well known. However, there is currently no statistical analysis identifying the least affected breeds. To this end, 2912 canine amputated digits submitted from 2014–2019 to the Laboklin GmbH & Co. KG for routine diagnostics were statistically analyzed. The study population consisted of 155 different breeds (most common: 634 Mongrels, 411 Schnauzers, 197 Labrador Retrievers, 93 Golden Retrievers). Non-neoplastic processes were present in 1246 (43%), tumor-like lesions in 138 (5%), and neoplasms in 1528 cases (52%). Benign tumors (n = 335) were characterized by 217 subungual keratoacanthomas, 36 histiocytomas, 35 plasmacytomas, 16 papillomas, 12 melanocytomas, 9 sebaceous gland tumors, 6 lipomas, and 4 bone tumors. Malignant neoplasms (n = 1193) included 758 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), 196 malignant melanomas (MM), 76 soft tissue sarcomas, 52 mast cell tumors, 37 non-specified sarcomas, 29 anaplastic neoplasms, 24 carcinomas, 20 bone tumors, and 1 histiocytic sarcoma. Predisposed breeds for SCC included the Schnauzer (log OR = 2.61), Briard (log OR = 1.78), Rottweiler (log OR = 1.54), Poodle (log OR = 1.40), and Dachshund (log OR = 1.30). Jack Russell Terriers (log OR = −2.95) were significantly less affected by SCC than Mongrels. Acral MM were significantly more frequent in Rottweilers (log OR = 1.88) and Labrador Retrievers (log OR = 1.09). In contrast, Dachshunds (log OR = −2.17), Jack Russell Terriers (log OR = −1.88), and Rhodesian Ridgebacks (log OR = −1.88) were rarely affected. This contrasted with the well-known predisposition of Dachshunds and Rhodesian Ridgebacks to oral and cutaneous melanocytic neoplasms. Further studies are needed to explain the underlying reasons for breed predisposition or “resistance” to the development of specific acral tumors and/or other sites. KW - canine KW - subungual KW - toe KW - tumor KW - inflammation KW - breed predisposition Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242690 SN - 2306-7381 VL - 8 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Peixoto, Joana A1 - Janaki-Raman, Sudha A1 - Schlicker, Lisa A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - Walz, Susanne A1 - Winkelkotte, Alina M. A1 - Herold-Mende, Christel A1 - Soares, Paula A1 - Schulze, Almut A1 - Lima, Jorge T1 - Integrated metabolomics and transcriptomics analysis of monolayer and neurospheres from established glioblastoma cell lines JF - Cancers N2 - Altered metabolic processes contribute to carcinogenesis by modulating proliferation, survival and differentiation. Tumours are composed of different cell populations, with cancer stem-like cells being one of the most prominent examples. This specific pool of cells is thought to be responsible for cancer growth and recurrence and plays a particularly relevant role in glioblastoma (GBM), the most lethal form of primary brain tumours. Here, we have analysed the transcriptome and metabolome of an established GBM cell line (U87) and a patient-derived GBM stem-like cell line (NCH644) exposed to neurosphere or monolayer culture conditions. By integrating transcriptome and metabolome data, we identified key metabolic pathways and gene signatures that are associated with stem-like and differentiated states in GBM cells, and demonstrated that neurospheres and monolayer cells differ substantially in their metabolism and gene regulation. Furthermore, arginine biosynthesis was identified as the most significantly regulated pathway in neurospheres, although individual nodes of this pathway were distinctly regulated in the two cellular systems. Neurosphere conditions, as opposed to monolayer conditions, cause a transcriptomic and metabolic rewiring that may be crucial for the regulation of stem-like features, where arginine biosynthesis may be a key metabolic pathway. Additionally, TCGA data from GBM patients showed significant regulation of specific components of the arginine biosynthesis pathway, providing further evidence for the importance of this metabolic pathway in GBM. KW - glioblastoma KW - neurospheres KW - monolayer KW - metabolome KW - transcriptome KW - arginine metabolism Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234110 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 13 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Biltueva, Larisa S. A1 - Prokopov, Dmitry Yu. A1 - Romanenko, Svetlana A. A1 - Interesova, Elena A. A1 - Schartl, Manfred A1 - Trifonov, Vladimir A. T1 - Chromosome distribution of highly conserved tandemly arranged repetitive DNAs in the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) JF - Genes N2 - Polyploid genomes present a challenge for cytogenetic and genomic studies, due to the high number of similar size chromosomes and the simultaneous presence of hardly distinguishable paralogous elements. The karyotype of the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) contains around 250 chromosomes and is remarkable for the presence of paralogs from two rounds of whole-genome duplications (WGD). In this study, we applied the sterlet-derived acipenserid satDNA-based whole chromosome-specific probes to analyze the Siberian sturgeon karyotype. We demonstrate that the last genome duplication event in the Siberian sturgeon was accompanied by the simultaneous expansion of several repetitive DNA families. Some of the repetitive probes serve as good cytogenetic markers distinguishing paralogous chromosomes and detecting ancestral syntenic regions, which underwent fusions and fissions. The tendency of minisatellite specificity for chromosome size groups previously observed in the sterlet genome is also visible in the Siberian sturgeon. We provide an initial physical chromosome map of the Siberian sturgeon genome supported by molecular markers. The application of these data will facilitate genomic studies in other recent polyploid sturgeon species. KW - Acipenser baerii KW - sturgeon karyotype KW - whole-genome duplication KW - paralogs KW - polyploidy KW - acipenserid minisatellite KW - satellite DNA KW - tandem repeats Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-219371 SN - 2073-4425 VL - 11 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stein, Katharina A1 - Coulibaly, Drissa A1 - Balima, Larba Hubert A1 - Goetze, Dethardt A1 - Linsenmair, Karl Eduard A1 - Porembski, Stefan A1 - Stenchly, Kathrin A1 - Theodorou, Panagiotis T1 - Plant-pollinator networks in savannas of Burkina Faso, West Africa JF - Diversity N2 - West African savannas are severely threatened with intensified land use and increasing degradation. Bees are important for terrestrial biodiversity as they provide native plant species with pollination services. However, little information is available regarding their mutualistic interactions with woody plant species. In the first network study from sub-Saharan West Africa, we investigated the effects of land-use intensity and climatic seasonality on plant–bee communities and their interaction networks. In total, we recorded 5686 interactions between 53 flowering woody plant species and 100 bee species. Bee-species richness and the number of interactions were higher in the low compared to medium and high land-use intensity sites. Bee- and plant-species richness and the number of interactions were higher in the dry compared to the rainy season. Plant–bee visitation networks were not strongly affected by land-use intensity; however, climatic seasonality had a strong effect on network architecture. Null-model corrected connectance and nestedness were higher in the dry compared to the rainy season. In addition, network specialization and null-model corrected modularity were lower in the dry compared to the rainy season. Our results suggest that in our study region, seasonal effects on mutualistic network architecture are more pronounced compared to land-use change effects. Nonetheless, the decrease in bee-species richness and the number of plant–bee interactions with an increase in land-use intensity highlights the importance of savanna conservation for maintaining bee diversity and the concomitant provision of ecosystem services. KW - bees KW - community composition KW - connectance KW - land-use intensity KW - modularity KW - mutualism KW - number of interactions KW - seasonality KW - woody plant richness Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-220157 SN - 1424-2818 VL - 13 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Vikuk, Veronika A1 - Young, Carolyn A. A1 - Krischke, Markus A1 - Mueller, Martin J. A1 - Baerenfaller, Katja T1 - Correction: Krauss, J., et al. Epichloë endophyte infection rates and alkaloid content in commercially available grass seed mixtures in Europe. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 498 JF - Microorganisms N2 - No abstract available. KW - Epichloë KW - endophyte Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-216254 SN - 2076-2607 VL - 8 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grittner, Rebecca A1 - Baird, Emily A1 - Stöckl, Anna T1 - Spatial tuning of translational optic flow responses in hawkmoths of varying body size JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology A N2 - To safely navigate their environment, flying insects rely on visual cues, such as optic flow. Which cues insects can extract from their environment depends closely on the spatial and temporal response properties of their visual system. These in turn can vary between individuals that differ in body size. How optic flow-based flight control depends on the spatial structure of visual cues, and how this relationship scales with body size, has previously been investigated in insects with apposition compound eyes. Here, we characterised the visual flight control response limits and their relationship to body size in an insect with superposition compound eyes: the hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum. We used the hawkmoths' centring response in a flight tunnel as a readout for their reception of translational optic flow stimuli of different spatial frequencies. We show that their responses cut off at different spatial frequencies when translational optic flow was presented on either one, or both tunnel walls. Combined with differences in flight speed, this suggests that their flight control was primarily limited by their temporal rather than spatial resolution. We also observed strong individual differences in flight performance, but no correlation between the spatial response cutoffs and body or eye size. KW - allometry KW - vision KW - optic flow KW - flight control KW - hawkmoth Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266565 SN - 1432-1351 VL - 208 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fleischmann, Pauline N. A1 - Grob, Robin A1 - Rössler, Wolfgang T1 - Magnetosensation during re-learning walks in desert ants (Cataglyphis nodus) JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology A N2 - At the beginning of their foraging careers, Cataglyphis desert ants calibrate their compass systems and learn the visual panorama surrounding the nest entrance. For that, they perform well-structured initial learning walks. During rotational body movements (pirouettes), naïve ants (novices) gaze back to the nest entrance to memorize their way back to the nest. To align their gaze directions, they rely on the geomagnetic field as a compass cue. In contrast, experienced ants (foragers) use celestial compass cues for path integration during food search. If the panorama at the nest entrance is changed, foragers perform re-learning walks prior to heading out on new foraging excursions. Here, we show that initial learning walks and re-learning walks are structurally different. During re-learning walks, foragers circle around the nest entrance before leaving the nest area to search for food. During pirouettes, they do not gaze back to the nest entrance. In addition, foragers do not use the magnetic field as a compass cue to align their gaze directions during re-learning walk pirouettes. Nevertheless, magnetic alterations during re-learning walks under manipulated panoramic conditions induce changes in nest-directed views indicating that foragers are still magnetosensitive in a cue conflict situation. KW - path integration KW - landmark panorama KW - learning and memory KW - magnetic compass KW - navigation Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266556 SN - 1432-1351 VL - 208 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cavaletto, Giacomo A1 - Faccoli, Massimo A1 - Marini, Lorenzo A1 - Spaethe, Johannes A1 - Magnani, Gianluca A1 - Rassati, Davide T1 - Effect of trap color on captures of bark- and wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera; Buprestidae and Scolytinae) and associated predators JF - Insects N2 - Traps baited with attractive lures are increasingly used at entry-points and surrounding natural areas to intercept exotic wood-boring beetles accidentally introduced via international trade. Several trapping variables can affect the efficacy of this activity, including trap color. In this study, we tested whether species richness and abundance of jewel beetles (Buprestidae), bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae), and their common predators (i.e., checkered beetles, Cleridae) can be modified using trap colors different to those currently used for surveillance of jewel beetles and bark and ambrosia beetles (i.e., green or black). We show that green and black traps are generally efficient, but also that many flower-visiting or dark-metallic colored jewel beetles and certain bark beetles are more attracted by other colors. In addition, we show that checkered beetles have color preferences similar to those of their Scolytinae preys, which limits using trap color to minimize their inadvertent removal. Overall, this study confirmed that understanding the color perception mechanisms in wood-boring beetles can lead to important improvements in trapping techniques and thereby increase the efficacy of surveillance programs. KW - ambrosia beetles KW - baited traps KW - bark beetles KW - biosecurity KW - checkered beetles KW - forest pests KW - insect vision KW - jewel beetles KW - surveillance Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-216325 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheiner, Ricarda A1 - Strauß, Sina A1 - Thamm, Markus A1 - Farré-Armengol, Gerard A1 - Junker, Robert R. T1 - The bacterium Pantoea ananatis modifies behavioral responses to sugar solutions in honeybees JF - Insects N2 - 1. Honeybees, which are among the most important pollinators globally, do not only collect pollen and nectar during foraging but may also disperse diverse microbes. Some of these can be deleterious to agricultural crops and forest trees, such as the bacterium Pantoea ananatis, an emerging pathogen in some systems. P. ananatis infections can lead to leaf blotches, die-back, bulb rot, and fruit rot. 2. We isolated P. ananatis bacteria from flowers with the aim of determining whether honeybees can sense these bacteria and if the bacteria affect behavioral responses of the bees to sugar solutions. 3. Honeybees decreased their responsiveness to different sugar solutions when these contained high concentrations of P. ananatis but were not deterred by solutions from which bacteria had been removed. This suggests that their reduced responsiveness was due to the taste of bacteria and not to the depletion of sugar in the solution or bacteria metabolites. Intriguingly, the bees appeared not to taste ecologically relevant low concentrations of bacteria. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our data suggest that honeybees may introduce P.ananatis bacteria into nectar in field-realistic densities during foraging trips and may thus affect nectar quality and plant fitness. KW - plant bacteria KW - bacterial spread KW - sucrose responsiveness KW - Apis mellifera Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-216247 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rabl, Dominik A1 - Alonso-Rodríguez, Aura M. A1 - Brehm, Gunnar A1 - Fiedler, Konrad T1 - Trait variation in moths mirrors small-scaled ecological gradients in a tropical forest landscape JF - Insects N2 - Along environmental gradients, communities are expected to be filtered from the regional species pool by physical constraints, resource availability, and biotic interactions. This should be reflected in species trait composition. Using data on species-rich moth assemblages sampled by light traps in a lowland rainforest landscape in Costa Rica, we show that moths in two unrelated clades (Erebidae-Arctiinae; Geometridae) are much smaller-sized in oil palm plantations than in nearby old-growth forest, with intermediate values at disturbed forest sites. In old-growth forest, Arctiinae predominantly show aposematic coloration as a means of anti-predator defense, whereas this trait is much reduced in the prevalence in plantations. Similarly, participation in Müllerian mimicry rings with Hymenoptera and Lycidae beetles, respectively, is rare in plantations. Across three topographic types of old-growth forests, community-weighted means of moth traits showed little variation, but in creek forest, both types of mimicry were surprisingly rare. Our results emphasize that despite their mobility, moth assemblages are strongly shaped by local environmental conditions through the interplay of bottom–up and top–down processes. Assemblages in oil palm plantations are highly degraded not only in their biodiversity, but also in terms of trait expression. KW - Costa Rica KW - body size KW - mimicry rings KW - aposematism KW - oil palm plantations KW - lowland rainforest Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-213016 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wunder, Juliane A1 - Pemp, Daniela A1 - Cecil, Alexander A1 - Mahdiani, Maryam A1 - Hauptstein, René A1 - Schmalbach, Katja A1 - Geppert, Leo N. A1 - Ickstadt, Katja A1 - Esch, Harald L. A1 - Dankekar, Thomas A1 - Lehmann, Leane T1 - Influence of breast cancer risk factors on proliferation and DNA damage in human breast glandular tissues: role of intracellular estrogen levels, oxidative stress and estrogen biotransformation JF - Archives of Toxicology N2 - Breast cancer etiology is associated with both proliferation and DNA damage induced by estrogens. Breast cancer risk factors (BCRF) such as body mass index (BMI), smoking, and intake of estrogen-active drugs were recently shown to influence intratissue estrogen levels. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of BCRF on estrogen-induced proliferation and DNA damage in 41 well-characterized breast glandular tissues derived from women without breast cancer. Influence of intramammary estrogen levels and BCRF on estrogen receptor (ESR) activation, ESR-related proliferation (indicated by levels of marker transcripts), oxidative stress (indicated by levels of GCLC transcript and oxidative derivatives of cholesterol), and levels of transcripts encoding enzymes involved in estrogen biotransformation was identified by multiple linear regression models. Metabolic fluxes to adducts of estrogens with DNA (E-DNA) were assessed by a metabolic network model (MNM) which was validated by comparison of calculated fluxes with data on methoxylated and glucuronidated estrogens determined by GC- and UHPLC-MS/MS. Intratissue estrogen levels significantly influenced ESR activation and fluxes to E-DNA within the MNM. Likewise, all BCRF directly and/or indirectly influenced ESR activation, proliferation, and key flux constraints influencing E-DNA (i.e., levels of estrogens, CYP1B1, SULT1A1, SULT1A2, and GSTP1). However, no unambiguous total effect of BCRF on proliferation became apparent. Furthermore, BMI was the only BCRF to indeed influence fluxes to E-DNA (via congruent adverse influence on levels of estrogens, CYP1B1 and SULT1A2). KW - metabolic network model KW - estrogens KW - human breast KW - multiple linear regression Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265343 SN - 1432-0738 VL - 96 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Sophie A1 - Köhler, Franziska A1 - Hendricks, Anne A1 - Kastner, Carolin A1 - Börner, Kevin A1 - Diers, Johannes A1 - Lock, Johan F. A1 - Petritsch, Bernhard A1 - Germer, Christoph-Thomas A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Brain metastases from colorectal cancer: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis to establish a guideline for daily treatment JF - Cancers N2 - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Most patients with metastatic CRC develop liver or lung metastases, while a minority suffer from brain metastases. There is little information available regarding the presentation, treatment, and overall survival of brain metastases (BM) from CRC. This systematic review and meta-analysis includes data collected from three major databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase) based on the key words “brain”, “metastas*”, “tumor”, “colorectal”, “cancer”, and “malignancy”. In total, 1318 articles were identified in the search and 86 studies matched the inclusion criteria. The incidence of BM varied between 0.1% and 11.5%. Most patients developed metastases at other sites prior to developing BM. Lung metastases and KRAS mutations were described as risk factors for additional BM. Patients with BM suffered from various symptoms, but up to 96.8% of BM patients were asymptomatic at the time of BM diagnosis. Median survival time ranged from 2 to 9.6 months, and overall survival (OS) increased up to 41.1 months in patients on a multimodal therapy regimen. Several factors including age, blood levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), multiple metastases sites, number of brain lesions, and presence of the KRAS mutation were predictors of OS. For BM diagnosis, MRI was considered to be state of the art. Treatment consisted of a combination of surgery, radiation, or systemic treatment. KW - brain metastases KW - cerebral metastases KW - BM KW - colorectal cancer KW - CRC KW - systematic review KW - meta-analysis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228883 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 13 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oelschlaegel, Diana A1 - Weiss Sadan, Tommy A1 - Salpeter, Seth A1 - Krug, Sebastian A1 - Blum, Galia A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - Schulze, Almut A1 - Michl, Patrick T1 - Cathepsin inhibition modulates metabolism and polarization of tumor-associated macrophages JF - Cancers N2 - Stroma-infiltrating immune cells, such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), play an important role in regulating tumor progression and chemoresistance. These effects are mostly conveyed by secreted mediators, among them several cathepsin proteases. In addition, increasing evidence suggests that stroma-infiltrating immune cells are able to induce profound metabolic changes within the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we aimed to characterize the impact of cathepsins in maintaining the TAM phenotype in more detail. For this purpose, we investigated the molecular effects of pharmacological cathepsin inhibition on the viability and polarization of human primary macrophages as well as its metabolic consequences. Pharmacological inhibition of cathepsins B, L, and S using a novel inhibitor, GB111-NH\(_2\), led to changes in cellular recycling processes characterized by an increased expression of autophagy- and lysosome-associated marker genes and reduced adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content. Decreased cathepsin activity in primary macrophages further led to distinct changes in fatty acid metabolites associated with increased expression of key modulators of fatty acid metabolism, such as fatty acid synthase (FASN) and acid ceramidase (ASAH1). The altered fatty acid profile was associated with an increased synthesis of the pro-inflammatory prostaglandin PGE\(_2\), which correlated with the upregulation of numerous NF\(_k\)B-dependent pro-inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα). Our data indicate a novel link between cathepsin activity and metabolic reprogramming in macrophages, demonstrated by a profound impact on autophagy and fatty acid metabolism, which facilitates a pro-inflammatory micromilieu generally associated with enhanced tumor elimination. These results provide a strong rationale for therapeutic cathepsin inhibition to overcome the tumor-promoting effects of the immune-evasive tumor micromilieu. KW - cathepsin KW - activity-based probes KW - tumor-associated macrophage KW - autophagy KW - lysosome KW - lipid metabolism KW - inflammation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-213040 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 12 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krüger, Timothy A1 - Maus, Katharina A1 - Kreß, Verena A1 - Meyer-Natus, Elisabeth A1 - Engstler, Markus T1 - Single-cell motile behaviour of Trypanosoma brucei in thin-layered fluid collectives JF - The European Physical Journal E N2 - We describe a system for the analysis of an important unicellular eukaryotic flagellate in a confining and crowded environment. The parasite Trypanosoma brucei is arguably one of the most versatile microswimmers known. It has unique properties as a single microswimmer and shows remarkable adaptations (not only in motility, but prominently so), to its environment during a complex developmental cycle involving two different hosts. Specific life cycle stages show fascinating collective behaviour, as millions of cells can be forced to move together in extreme confinement. Our goal is to examine such motile behaviour directly in the context of the relevant environments. Therefore, for the first time, we analyse the motility behaviour of trypanosomes directly in a widely used assay, which aims to evaluate the parasites behaviour in collectives, in response to as yet unknown parameters. In a step towards understanding whether, or what type of, swarming behaviour of trypanosomes exists, we customised the assay for quantitative tracking analysis of motile behaviour on the single-cell level. We show that the migration speed of cell groups does not directly depend on single-cell velocity and that the system remains to be simplified further, before hypotheses about collective motility can be advanced. KW - Trypanosoma brucei KW - motile behaviour KW - fluid collectives Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-273022 SN - 1292-895X VL - 44 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferreira, Eliana Aparecida A1 - Boff, Samuel A1 - Verza, Sandra S. A1 - Mussury, Rosilda Mara T1 - Bioecological and behavioral interaction between pollinating bees and the pioneer shrub Ludwigia nervosa in degraded area suggests an exotic bee as its major pollinator JF - Biology N2 - The flowers of plants of the genus Ludwigia are an important source of food for several species of bees. In the current study, we conducted an experiment with the aim to describe the reproductive biology and phenology of L. nervosa; to identify the species of visiting bees; analyze the foraging behavior of bees; and to investigate whether the reproductive success of the species is related to the foraging activity of bees. We found that the flowers received visits from several native bee species (n = 7), in addition of the exotic honey bees which came to be the dominant species. During visits the majority of the bees foraged in both resources, pollen and nectar. The significantly higher production of fruits in open pollinated pollination experiment compared to artificial cross pollination, suggests honey bees as effective pollinator of this plant species in the study site. Pollen deposition occurs efficiently, given the absence of pollen limitation. Despite massive visitation of honey bees, Ludwigianervosa is attractive to native bees, and therefore it may help to sustain population of both native and exotic pollinators in fragmented humid areas. KW - cross pollination KW - disturbed humid area KW - germination speed KW - honey bees and native bees KW - pollen limitation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228757 SN - 2079-7737 VL - 10 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Bencurova, Elena A1 - Osmanoglu, Özge A1 - Naseem, Muhammad T1 - Klimapflanzen und biologische Wege zu negativen Kohlendioxidemissionen JF - BIOspektrum N2 - Climate plants are critical to prevent global warming as all efforts to save carbon dioxide are too slow and climate disasters on the rise. For best carbon dioxide harvesting we compare algae, trees and crop plants and use metagenomic analysis of environmental samples. We compare different pathways, carbon harvesting potentials of different plants as well as synthetic modifications including carbon dioxide flux balance analysis. For implementation, agriculture and modern forestry are important. KW - Klimapflanzen KW - Klimawandel KW - Klimaneutralität Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270067 SN - 1868-6249 VL - 27 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sputh, Sebastian A1 - Panzer, Sabine A1 - Stigloher, Christian A1 - Terpitz, Ulrich T1 - Superaufgelöste Mikroskopie: Pilze unter Beobachtung JF - BIOspektrum N2 - The diffraction limit of light confines fluorescence imaging of subcellular structures in fungi. Different super-resolution methods are available for the analysis of fungi that we briefly discuss. We exploit the filamentous fungus Fusarium fujikuroi expressing a YFP-labeled membrane protein showing the benefit of correlative light- and electron microscopy (CLEM), that combines structured illumination microscopy (SIM) and scanning election microscopy (SEM). KW - Pilze KW - mikroskopische Untersuchung KW - Abbe-Limit Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270014 SN - 1868-6249 VL - 27 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Plieger, Tanja A1 - Wolf, Matthias T1 - 18S and ITS2 rDNA sequence-structure phylogeny of Prototheca (Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae) JF - Biologia N2 - Protothecosis is an infectious disease caused by organisms currently classified within the green algal genus Prototheca. The disease can manifest as cutaneous lesions, olecranon bursitis or disseminated or systemic infections in both immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients. Concerning diagnostics, taxonomic validity is important. Prototheca, closely related to the Chlorella species complex, is known to be polyphyletic, branching with Auxenochlorella and Helicosporidium. The phylogeny of Prototheca was discussed and revisited several times in the last decade; new species have been described. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and partial mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) sequence data. In this work we use Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) as well as 18S rDNA data. However, for the first time, we reconstruct phylogenetic relationships of Prototheca using primary sequence and RNA secondary structure information simultaneously, a concept shown to increase robustness and accuracy of phylogenetic tree estimation. Using encoded sequence-structure data, Neighbor-Joining, Maximum-Parsimony and Maximum-Likelihood methods yielded well-supported trees in agreement with other trees calculated on rDNA; but differ in several aspects from trees using cytb as a phylogenetic marker. ITS2 secondary structures of Prototheca sequences are in agreement with the well-known common core structure of eukaryotes but show unusual differences in their helix lengths. An elongation of the fourth helix of some species seems to have occurred independently in the course of evolution. KW - secondary structure KW - 18S KW - ITS2 KW - phylogeny KW - prototheca Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269897 SN - 1336-9563 VL - 77 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kriegel, Peter A1 - Matevski, Dragan A1 - Schuldt, Andreas T1 - Monoculture and mixture-planting of non-native Douglas fir alters species composition, but promotes the diversity of ground beetles in a temperate forest system JF - Biodiversity and Conservation N2 - Planting non-native tree species, like Douglas fir in temperate European forest systems, is encouraged to mitigate effects of climate change. However, Douglas fir monocultures often revealed negative effects on forest biota, while effects of mixtures with native tree species on forest ecosystems are less well understood. We investigated effects of three tree species (Douglas fir, Norway spruce, native European beech), on ground beetles in temperate forests of Germany. Beetles were sampled in monocultures of each tree species and broadleaf-conifer mixtures with pitfall traps, and environmental variables were assessed around each trap. We used linear mixed models in a two-step procedure to disentangle effects of environment and tree species identity on ground beetle abundance, species richness, functional diversity and species assemblage structure. Contradictory to our expectations, ground beetle abundance and functional diversity was highest in pure Douglas fir stands, while tree mixtures showed intermediate values between pure coniferous and pure beech stands. The main drivers of these patterns were only partially dependent on tree species identity, which highlights the importance of structural features in forest stands. However, our study revealed distinct shifts in assemblage structure between pure beech and pure Douglas fir stands, which were only partially eased through mixture planting. Our findings suggest that effects of planting non-native trees on associated biodiversity can be actively modified by promoting beneficial forest structures. Nevertheless, integrating non-native tree species, even in mixtures with native trees, will invariably alter assemblage structures of associated biota, which can compromise conservation efforts targeted at typical species composition. KW - mixed-species forestry KW - exotic species KW - Pseudotsuga menziesii KW - functional diversity KW - insects KW - microhabitats Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269017 SN - 1572-9710 VL - 30 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jansch, Charline A1 - Ziegler, Georg C. A1 - Forero, Andrea A1 - Gredy, Sina A1 - Wäldchen, Sina A1 - Vitale, Maria Rosaria A1 - Svirin, Evgeniy A1 - Zöller, Johanna E. M. A1 - Waider, Jonas A1 - Günther, Katharina A1 - Edenhofer, Frank A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Wischmeyer, Erhard A1 - Lesch, Klaus-Peter T1 - Serotonin-specific neurons differentiated from human iPSCs form distinct subtypes with synaptic protein assembly JF - Journal of Neural Transmission N2 - Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have revolutionized the generation of experimental disease models, but the development of protocols for the differentiation of functionally active neuronal subtypes with defined specification is still in its infancy. While dysfunction of the brain serotonin (5-HT) system has been implicated in the etiology of various neuropsychiatric disorders, investigation of functional human 5-HT specific neurons in vitro has been restricted by technical limitations. We describe an efficient generation of functionally active neurons from hiPSCs displaying 5-HT specification by modification of a previously reported protocol. Furthermore, 5-HT specific neurons were characterized using high-end fluorescence imaging including super-resolution microscopy in combination with electrophysiological techniques. Differentiated hiPSCs synthesize 5-HT, express specific markers, such as tryptophan hydroxylase 2 and 5-HT transporter, and exhibit an electrophysiological signature characteristic of serotonergic neurons, with spontaneous rhythmic activities, broad action potentials and large afterhyperpolarization potentials. 5-HT specific neurons form synapses reflected by the expression of pre- and postsynaptic proteins, such as Bassoon and Homer. The distribution pattern of Bassoon, a marker of the active zone along the soma and extensions of neurons, indicates functionality via volume transmission. Among the high percentage of 5-HT specific neurons (~ 42%), a subpopulation of CDH13 + cells presumably designates dorsal raphe neurons. hiPSC-derived 5-HT specific neuronal cell cultures reflect the heterogeneous nature of dorsal and median raphe nuclei and may facilitate examining the association of serotonergic neuron subpopulations with neuropsychiatric disorders. KW - neuropsychiatric disorders KW - human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) KW - serotonin-specific neurons KW - median and dorsal raphe KW - synapse formation KW - Cadherin-13 (CDH13) Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-268519 SN - 1435-1463 VL - 128 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rother, Lisa A1 - Kraft, Nadine A1 - Smith, Dylan B. A1 - El Jundi, Basil A1 - Gill, Richard J. A1 - Pfeiffer, Keram T1 - A micro-CT-based standard brain atlas of the bumblebee JF - Cell and Tissue Research N2 - In recent years, bumblebees have become a prominent insect model organism for a variety of biological disciplines, particularly to investigate learning behaviors as well as visual performance. Understanding these behaviors and their underlying neurobiological principles requires a clear understanding of brain anatomy. Furthermore, to be able to compare neuronal branching patterns across individuals, a common framework is required, which has led to the development of 3D standard brain atlases in most of the neurobiological insect model species. Yet, no bumblebee 3D standard brain atlas has been generated. Here we present a brain atlas for the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scans as a source for the raw data sets, rather than traditional confocal microscopy, to produce the first ever micro-CT-based insect brain atlas. We illustrate the advantages of the micro-CT technique, namely, identical native resolution in the three cardinal planes and 3D structure being better preserved. Our Bombus terrestris brain atlas consists of 30 neuropils reconstructed from ten individual worker bees, with micro-CT allowing us to segment neuropils completely intact, including the lamina, which is a tissue structure often damaged when dissecting for immunolabeling. Our brain atlas can serve as a platform to facilitate future neuroscience studies in bumblebees and illustrates the advantages of micro-CT for specific applications in insect neuroanatomy. KW - neuropils KW - Bombus terrestris KW - insect standard brain atlas KW - iterative shape averaging KW - reconstruction Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267783 SN - 1432-0878 VL - 386 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bahena, Paulina A1 - Daftarian, Narsis A1 - Maroofian, Reza A1 - Linares, Paola A1 - Villalobos, Daniel A1 - Mirrahimi, Mehraban A1 - Rad, Aboulfazl A1 - Doll, Julia A1 - Hofrichter, Michaela A. H. A1 - Koparir, Asuman A1 - Röder, Tabea A1 - Han, Seungbin A1 - Sabbaghi, Hamideh A1 - Ahmadieh, Hamid A1 - Behboudi, Hassan A1 - Villanueva-Mendoza, Cristina A1 - Cortés-Gonzalez, Vianney A1 - Zamora-Ortiz, Rocio A1 - Kohl, Susanne A1 - Kuehlewein, Laura A1 - Darvish, Hossein A1 - Alehabib, Elham A1 - La Arenas-Sordo, Maria de Luz A1 - Suri, Fatemeh A1 - Vona, Barbara A1 - Haaf, Thomas T1 - Unraveling the genetic complexities of combined retinal dystrophy and hearing impairment JF - Human Genetics N2 - Usher syndrome, the most prevalent cause of combined hereditary vision and hearing impairment, is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Moreover, several conditions with phenotypes overlapping Usher syndrome have been described. This makes the molecular diagnosis of hereditary deaf-blindness challenging. Here, we performed exome sequencing and analysis on 7 Mexican and 52 Iranian probands with combined retinal degeneration and hearing impairment (without intellectual disability). Clinical assessment involved ophthalmological examination and hearing loss questionnaire. Usher syndrome, most frequently due to biallelic variants in MYO7A (USH1B in 16 probands), USH2A (17 probands), and ADGRV1 (USH2C in 7 probands), was diagnosed in 44 of 59 (75%) unrelated probands. Almost half of the identified variants were novel. Nine of 59 (15%) probands displayed other genetic entities with dual sensory impairment, including Alström syndrome (3 patients), cone-rod dystrophy and hearing loss 1 (2 probands), and Heimler syndrome (1 patient). Unexpected findings included one proband each with Scheie syndrome, coenzyme Q10 deficiency, and pseudoxanthoma elasticum. In four probands, including three Usher cases, dual sensory impairment was either modified/aggravated or caused by variants in distinct genes associated with retinal degeneration and/or hearing loss. The overall diagnostic yield of whole exome analysis in our deaf-blind cohort was 92%. Two (3%) probands were partially solved and only 3 (5%) remained without any molecular diagnosis. In many cases, the molecular diagnosis is important to guide genetic counseling, to support prognostic outcomes and decisions with currently available and evolving treatment modalities. KW - Usher syndrome KW - hearing impairment KW - combined retinal dystrophy Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267750 SN - 1432-1203 VL - 141 IS - 3-4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bohnert, Simone A1 - Wirth, Christoph A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - Trella, Stefanie A1 - Monoranu, Camelia-Maria A1 - Ondruschka, Benjamin A1 - Bohnert, Michael T1 - Myelin basic protein and neurofilament H in postmortem cerebrospinal fluid as surrogate markers of fatal traumatic brain injury JF - International Journal of Legal Medicine N2 - The aim of this study was to investigate if the biomarkers myelin basic protein (MBP) and neurofilament-H (NF-H) yielded informative value in forensic diagnostics when examining cadaveric cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biochemically via an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and comparing the corresponding brain tissue in fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI) autopsy cases by immunocytochemistry versus immunohistochemistry. In 21 trauma and 19 control cases, CSF was collected semi-sterile after suboccipital puncture and brain specimens after preparation. The CSF MBP (p = 0.006) and NF-H (p = 0.0002) levels after TBI were significantly higher than those in cardiovascular controls. Immunohistochemical staining against MBP and against NF-H was performed on cortical and subcortical samples from also biochemically investigated cases (5 TBI cases/5 controls). Compared to the controls, the TBI cases showed a visually reduced staining reaction against MBP or repeatedly ruptured neurofilaments against NF-H. Immunocytochemical tests showed MBP-positive phagocytizing macrophages in CSF with a survival time of > 24 h. In addition, numerous TMEM119-positive microglia could be detected with different degrees of staining intensity in the CSF of trauma cases. As a result, we were able to document that elevated levels of MBP and NF-H in the CSF should be considered as useful neuroinjury biomarkers of traumatic brain injury. KW - biofluid KW - CSF KW - cerebrospinal fluid KW - forensic neuropathology KW - forensic neurotraumatology KW - biomarker Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266929 SN - 1437-1596 VL - 135 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Köhler, Franziska A1 - Hendricks, Anne A1 - Kastner, Carolin A1 - Müller, Sophie A1 - Boerner, Kevin A1 - Wagner, Johanna C. A1 - Lock, Johan F. A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Laparoscopic appendectomy versus antibiotic treatment for acute appendicitis-a systematic review JF - International Journal of Colorectal Disease N2 - Background Over the last years, laparoscopic appendectomy has progressively replaced open appendectomy and become the current gold standard treatment for suspected, uncomplicated appendicitis. At the same time, though, it is an ongoing discussion that antibiotic therapy can be an equivalent treatment for patients with uncomplicated appendicitis. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the safety and efficacy of antibiotic therapy and compare it to the laparoscopic appendectomy for acute, uncomplicated appendicitis. Methods The PubMed database, Embase database, and Cochrane library were scanned for studies comparing laparoscopic appendectomy with antibiotic treatment. Two independent reviewers performed the study selection and data extraction. The primary endpoint was defined as successful treatment of appendicitis. Secondary endpoints were pain intensity, duration of hospitalization, absence from work, and incidence of complications. Results No studies were found that exclusively compared laparoscopic appendectomy with antibiotic treatment for acute, uncomplicated appendicitis. Conclusions To date, there are no studies comparing antibiotic treatment to laparoscopic appendectomy for patients with acute uncomplicated appendicitis, thus emphasizing the lack of evidence and need for further investigation. KW - acute appendicitis KW - open appendectomy KW - laparoscopic appendectomy KW - antibiotics Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266616 SN - 1432-1262 VL - 36 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kann, Simone A1 - Kunz, Meik A1 - Hansen, Jessica A1 - Sievertsen, Jürgen A1 - Crespo, Jose J. A1 - Loperena, Aristides A1 - Arriens, Sandra A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - Chagas disease: detection of Trypanosoma cruzi by a new, high-specific real time PCR JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine N2 - Background: Chagas disease (CD) is a major burden in Latin America, expanding also to non-endemic countries. A gold standard to detect the CD causing pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi is currently not available. Existing real time polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs) lack sensitivity and/or specificity. We present a new, highly specific RT-PCR for the diagnosis and monitoring of CD. Material and Methods: We analyzed 352 serum samples from Indigenous people living in high endemic CD areas of Colombia using three leading RT-PCRs (k-DNA-, TCZ-, 18S rRNA-PCR), the newly developed one (NDO-PCR), a Rapid Test/enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA), and immunofluorescence. Eighty-seven PCR-products were verified by sequence analysis after plasmid vector preparation. Results: The NDO-PCR showed the highest sensitivity (92.3%), specificity (100%), and accuracy (94.3%) for T. cruzi detection in the 87 sequenced samples. Sensitivities and specificities of the kDNA-PCR were 89.2%/22.7%, 20.5%/100% for TCZ-PCR, and 1.5%/100% for the 18S rRNA-PCR. The kDNA-PCR revealed a 77.3% false positive rate, mostly due to cross-reactions with T. rangeli (NDO-PCR 0%). TCZ- and 18S rRNA-PCR showed a false negative rate of 79.5% and 98.5% (NDO-PCR 7.7%), respectively. Conclusions: The NDO-PCR demonstrated the highest specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy compared to leading PCRs. Together with serologic tests, it can be considered as a reliable tool for CD detection and can improve CD management significantly. KW - Chagas disease KW - Chagas diagnosis KW - Chagas monitoring KW - Chagas real time PCR KW - Trypanosoma cruzi Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-205746 SN - 2077-0383 VL - 9 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grund-Mueller, Nils A1 - Ruedenauer, Fabian A. A1 - Spaethe, Johannes A1 - Leonhardt, Sara D. T1 - Adding amino acids to a sucrose diet is not sufficient to support longevity of adult bumble bees JF - Insects N2 - Dietary macro-nutrients (i.e., carbohydrates, protein, and fat) are important for bee larval development and, thus, colony health and fitness. To which extent different diets (varying in macro-nutrient composition) affect adult bees and whether they can thrive on nectar as the sole amino acid source has, however, been little investigated. We investigated how diets varying in protein concentration and overall nutrient composition affected consumption, longevity, and breeding behavior of the buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Queenless micro-colonies were fed either natural nutrient sources (pollen), nearly pure protein (i.e., the milk protein casein), or sucrose solutions with low and with high essential amino acid content in concentrations as can be found in nectar. We observed micro-colonies for 110 days. We found that longevity was highest for pure pollen and lowest for pure sucrose solution and sucrose solution supplemented with amino acids in concentrations as found in the nectar of several plant species. Adding higher concentrations of amino acids to sucrose solution did only slightly increase longevity compared to sucrose alone. Consequently, sucrose solution with the applied concentrations and proportions of amino acids or other protein sources (e.g., casein) alone did not meet the nutritional needs of healthy adult bumble bees. In fact, longevity was highest and reproduction only successful in micro-colonies fed pollen. These results indicate that, in addition to carbohydrates and protein, adult bumble bees, like larvae, need further nutrients (e.g., lipids and micro-nutrients) for their well-being. An appropriate nutritional composition seemed to be best provided by floral pollen, suggesting that pollen is an essential dietary component not only for larvae but also for adult bees. KW - nutrition KW - nutrients KW - foraging KW - pollen KW - resources KW - adult bees Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-203866 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Stefanie A1 - Denk, Sarah A1 - Wiegering, Armin T1 - Targeting protein synthesis in colorectal cancer JF - Cancers N2 - Under physiological conditions, protein synthesis controls cell growth and survival and is strictly regulated. Deregulation of protein synthesis is a frequent event in cancer. The majority of mutations found in colorectal cancer (CRC), including alterations in the WNT pathway as well as activation of RAS/MAPK and PI3K/AKT and, subsequently, mTOR signaling, lead to deregulation of the translational machinery. Besides mutations in upstream signaling pathways, deregulation of global protein synthesis occurs through additional mechanisms including altered expression or activity of initiation and elongation factors (e.g., eIF4F, eIF2α/eIF2B, eEF2) as well as upregulation of components involved in ribosome biogenesis and factors that control the adaptation of translation in response to stress (e.g., GCN2). Therefore, influencing mechanisms that control mRNA translation may open a therapeutic window for CRC. Over the last decade, several potential therapeutic strategies targeting these alterations have been investigated and have shown promising results in cell lines, intestinal organoids, and mouse models. Despite these encouraging in vitro results, patients have not clinically benefited from those advances so far. In this review, we outline the mechanisms that lead to deregulated mRNA translation in CRC and highlight recent progress that has been made in developing therapeutic strategies that target these mechanisms for tumor therapy. KW - colorectal cancer KW - protein synthesis KW - translation initiation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-206014 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 12 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fathy, Moustafa A1 - Okabe, Motonori A1 - Othman, Eman M. A1 - Saad Eldien, Heba M. A1 - Yoshida, Toshiko T1 - Preconditioning of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem-like cells with eugenol potentiates their migration and proliferation in vitro and therapeutic abilities in rat hepatic fibrosis JF - Molecules N2 - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have considerable therapeutic abilities in various disorders, including hepatic fibrosis. They may be affected with different culture conditions. This study investigated, on molecular basics, the effect of pretreatment with eugenol on the characteristics of adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ASCs) in vitro and the implication of eugenol preconditioning on the in vivo therapeutic abilities of ASCs against CCl\(_4\)-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. The effect of eugenol on ASCs was assessed using viability, scratch migration and sphere formation assays. Expressions of genes and proteins were estimated by immunofluorescence or qRT-PCR. For the in vivo investigations, rats were divided into four groups: the normal control group, fibrotic (CCl\(_4\)) group, CCl\(_4\)+ASCs group and CCl\(_4\) + eugenol-preconditioned ASCs (CCl\(_4\)+E-ASCs) group. Eugenol affected the viability of ASCs in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Eugenol improved their self-renewal, proliferation and migration abilities and significantly increased their expression of c-Met, reduced expression 1 (Rex1), octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4) and nanog genes. Furthermore, E-ASCs showed more of a homing ability than ASCs and improved the serum levels of ALT, AST, albumin, total bilirubin and hyaluronic acid more efficient than ASCs in treating CCl\(_4\)-induced hepatic fibrosis, which was confirmed with histopathology. More interestingly, compared to the CCl\(_4\)+ASCs group, CCl\(_4\)+E-ASCs group showed a lower expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), cluster of differentiation 163 (CD163) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) genes and higher expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-13 genes. This study, for the first time, revealed that eugenol significantly improved the self-renewal, migration and proliferation characteristics of ASCs, in vitro. In addition, we demonstrated that eugenol-preconditioning significantly enhanced the therapeutic abilities of the injected ASCs against CCl\(_4\)-induced hepatic fibrosis. KW - adipose tissue-derived MSCs KW - eugenol KW - migration KW - self-renewal KW - hepatic fibrosis KW - CCl\(_4\) Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-203662 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 25 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Venjakob, Christine A1 - Leonhardt, Sara A1 - Klein, Alexandra-Maria T1 - Inter-individual nectar chemistry changes of field scabious, Knautia arvensis JF - Insects N2 - Nectar is crucial to maintain plant-pollinator mutualism. Nectar quality (nutritional composition) can vary strongly between individuals of the same plant species. The factors driving such inter-individual variation have however not been investigated closer. We investigated nectar quality of field scabious, Knautia arvensis in different grassland plant communities varying in species composition and richness to assess whether nectar quality can be affected by the surrounding plant community. We analyzed (with high performance liquid chromatography) the content of carbohydrates, overall amino acids, and essential amino acids. Amino acid and carbohydrate concentrations and proportions varied among plant individuals and with the surrounding plant community but were not related to the surrounding plant species richness. Total and individual carbohydrate concentrations were lowest, while proportions of the essential amino acids, valine, isoleucine, leucine (all phagostimulatory), and lysine were highest in plant species communities of the highest diversity. Our results show that K. arvensis nectar chemistry varies with the composition of the surrounding plant community, which may alter the taste and nutritional value and thus affect the plant’s visitor spectrum and visitation rate. However, the strong inter-individual variation in nectar quality requires additional studies (e.g., in semi-field studies) to disentangle different biotic and abiotic factors contributing to inter-individual nectar chemistry in a plant-community context. KW - amino acids KW - carbohydrates KW - flower-visiting insects KW - insect nutrition KW - Jena Experiment Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200866 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jahed, Razieh Rafiei A1 - Kavousi, Mohammad Reza A1 - Farashiani, Mohammad Ebrahim A1 - Sagheb-Talebi, Khosro A1 - Babanezhad, Manoochehr A1 - Courbaud, Benoit A1 - Wirtz, Roland A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Larrieu, Laurent T1 - A comparison of the formation rates and composition of tree-related microhabitats in beech-dominated primeval Carpathian and Hyrcanian forests JF - Forests N2 - Primeval forests in the temperate zone exist only as a few remnants, but theses serve as important reference areas for conservation. As key habitats, tree-related microhabitats (TreMs) are of intense interest to forest ecologists, but little is known about their natural composition and dynamics in different tree species. Beech forms a major part of the temperate forests that extend from Europe, home to European beech Fagus sylvatica L. (Fs), eastward to Iran, where Oriental beech Fagus orientalis Lipsky (Fo) is the dominant species. In this study, we compared TreMs in primeval forests of both species, using data from Fo growing in 25 inventory plots throughout the Hyrcanian forest belt in Iran and from Fs growing in a 9 ha permanent plot in the Uholka Forest of Ukraine. TreMs based on 47 types and 11 subgroups were recorded. Beech trees in the Hyrcanian forest had a higher mean diameter at breast height (dbh) than beech trees in Uholka and contained twice as many TreMs per hectare. Although the mean richness of TreMs per TreM bearing tree was similar in the two species, on the basis of the comparison single trees in two groups (n = 405 vs. 2251), the composition of the TreMs clearly differed, as the proportions of rot holes, root-buttress concavities, and crown deadwood were higher in the Hyrcanian Forest, and those of bark losses, exposed heartwood, and burrs and cankers higher in Uholka Forest. Estimates of TreMs dynamics based on dbh and using Weibull models showed a significantly faster cumulative increase of TreMs in Fo, in which saturation occurred already in trees with a dbh of 70–80 cm. By contrast, the increase in TreMs in Fs was continuous. In both species, the probability density was highest at a dbh of about 30 cm, but was twice as high in Fo. Because of limitations of our study design, the reason behind observed differences of TreM formation and composition between regions remains unclear, as it could be either result of the tree species or the environment, or their interaction. However, the observed differences were more likely the result of differences in the environment than in the two tree species. Nevertheless, our findings demonstrate that the Hyrcanian Forest, recently designated as a natural heritage site in Iran, is unique, not only as a tertiary relict or due to its endemic trees, herbs and arthropods, but also because of its TreMs, which form a distinct and rich habitat for associated taxa, including endemic saproxylic species. KW - TreMs KW - Fagus orientalis KW - Fagus sylvatica KW - primeval forest Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200849 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 11 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Polidori, Carlo A1 - Ballesteros, Yolanda A1 - Wurdack, Mareike A1 - Asís, Josep Daniel A1 - Tormos, José A1 - Baños-Picón, Laura A1 - Schmitt, Thomas T1 - Low host specialization in the cuckoo wasp, Parnopes grandior, weakens chemical mimicry but does not lead to local adaption JF - Insects N2 - Insect brood parasites have evolved a variety of strategies to avoid being detected by their hosts. Few previous studies on cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), which are natural enemies of solitary wasps and bees, have shown that chemical mimicry, i.e., the biosynthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) that match the host profile, evolved in several species. However, mimicry was not detected in all investigated host-parasite pairs. The effect of host range as a second factor that may play a role in evolution of mimicry has been neglected, since all previous studies were carried out on host specialists and at nesting sites where only one host species occurred. Here we studied the cuckoo wasp Parnopes grandior, which attacks many digger wasp species of the genus Bembix (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). Given its weak host specialization, P. grandior may either locally adapt by increasing mimicry precision to only one of the sympatric hosts or it may evolve chemical insignificance by reducing the CHC profile complexity and/or CHCs amounts. At a study site harbouring three host species, we found evidence for a weak but appreciable chemical deception strategy in P. grandior. Indeed, the CHC profile of P. grandior was more similar to all sympatric Bembix species than to a non-host wasp species belonging to the same tribe as Bembix. Furthermore, P. grandior CHC profile was equally distant to all the hosts' CHC profiles, thus not pointing towards local adaptation of the CHC profile to one of the hosts' profile. We conducted behavioural assays suggesting that such weak mimicry is sufficient to reduce host aggression, even in absence of an insignificance strategy, which was not detected. Hence, we finally concluded that host range may indeed play a role in shaping the level of chemical mimicry in cuckoo wasps. KW - Chrysididae KW - Bembix KW - chemical mimicry KW - cuticular hydrocarbons Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-200651 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 11 IS - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Villalobos, Alvaro S. A1 - Wiese, Jutta A1 - Imhoff, Johannes F. A1 - Dorador, Cristina A1 - Keller, Alexander A1 - Hentschel, Ute T1 - Systematic affiliation and genome analysis of Subtercola vilae DB165T with particular emphasis on cold adaptation of an isolate from a high-altitude cold volcano lake JF - Microorganisms N2 - Among the Microbacteriaceae the species of Subtercola and Agreia form closely associated clusters. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated three major phylogenetic branches of these species. One of these branches contains the two psychrophilic species Subtercola frigoramans and Subtercola vilae, together with a larger number of isolates from various cold environments. Genomic evidence supports the separation of Agreia and Subtercola species. In order to gain insight into the ability of S. vilae to adapt to life in this extreme environment, we analyzed the genome with a particular focus on properties related to possible adaptation to a cold environment. General properties of the genome are presented, including carbon and energy metabolism, as well as secondary metabolite production. The repertoire of genes in the genome of S. vilae DB165\(^T\) linked to adaptations to the harsh conditions found in Llullaillaco Volcano Lake includes several mechanisms to transcribe proteins under low temperatures, such as a high number of tRNAs and cold shock proteins. In addition, S. vilae DB165\(^T\) is capable of producing a number of proteins to cope with oxidative stress, which is of particular relevance at low temperature environments, in which reactive oxygen species are more abundant. Most important, it obtains capacities to produce cryo-protectants, and to combat against ice crystal formation, it produces ice-binding proteins. Two new ice-binding proteins were identified which are unique to S. vilae DB165\(^T\). These results indicate that S. vilae has the capacity to employ different mechanisms to live under the extreme and cold conditions prevalent in Llullaillaco Volcano Lake. KW - cold adaptation KW - Subtercola vilae KW - genome analysis KW - systematic affiliation KW - Llullaillaco Volcano Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197394 SN - 2076-2607 VL - 7 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grebinyk, Anna A1 - Prylutska, Svitlana A1 - Chepurna, Oksana A1 - Grebinyk, Sergii A1 - Prylutskyy, Yuriy A1 - Ritter, Uwe A1 - Ohulchanskyy, Tymish Y. A1 - Matyshevska, Olga A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Frohme, Marcus T1 - Synergy of chemo- and photodynamic therapies with C\(_{60}\) Fullerene-Doxorubicin nanocomplex JF - Nanomaterials N2 - A nanosized drug complex was explored to improve the efficiency of cancer chemotherapy, complementing it with nanodelivery and photodynamic therapy. For this, nanomolar amounts of a non-covalent nanocomplex of Doxorubicin (Dox) with carbon nanoparticle C\(_{60}\) fullerene (C\(_{60}\)) were applied in 1:1 and 2:1 molar ratio, exploiting C\(_{60}\) both as a drug-carrier and as a photosensitizer. The fluorescence microscopy analysis of human leukemic CCRF-CEM cells, in vitro cancer model, treated with nanocomplexes showed Dox’s nuclear and C\(_{60}\)'s extranuclear localization. It gave an opportunity to realize a double hit strategy against cancer cells based on Dox's antiproliferative activity and C\(_{60}\)'s photoinduced pro-oxidant activity. When cells were treated with 2:1 C\(_{60}\)-Dox and irradiated at 405 nm the high cytotoxicity of photo-irradiated C\(_{60}\)-Dox enabled a nanomolar concentration of Dox and C\(_{60}\) to efficiently kill cancer cells in vitro. The high pro-oxidant and pro-apoptotic efficiency decreased IC\(_{50}\) 16, 9 and 7 × 10\(^3\)-fold, if compared with the action of Dox, non-irradiated nanocomplex, and C\(_{60}\)'s photodynamic effect, correspondingly. Hereafter, a strong synergy of therapy arising from the combination of C\(_{60}\)-mediated Dox delivery and C\(_{60}\) photoexcitation was revealed. Our data indicate that a combination of chemo- and photodynamic therapies with C\(_{60}\)-Dox nanoformulation provides a promising synergetic approach for cancer treatment. KW - photodynamic chemotherapy KW - synergistic effect KW - C\(_{60}\) fullerene KW - Doxorubicin KW - nanocomplex KW - leukemic cells KW - apoptosis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193140 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 9 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hempelmann, Alexander A1 - Hartleb, Laura A1 - van Straaten, Monique A1 - Hashemi, Hamidreza A1 - Zeelen, Johan P. A1 - Bongers, Kevin A1 - Papavasiliou, F. Nina A1 - Engstler, Markus A1 - Stebbins, C. Erec A1 - Jones, Nicola G. T1 - Nanobody-mediated macromolecular crowding induces membrane fission and remodeling in the African trypanosome JF - Cell Reports N2 - The dense variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat of African trypanosomes represents the primary host-pathogen interface. Antigenic variation prevents clearing of the pathogen by employing a large repertoire of antigenically distinct VSG genes, thus neutralizing the host’s antibody response. To explore the epitope space of VSGs, we generate anti-VSG nanobodies and combine high-resolution structural analysis of VSG-nanobody complexes with binding assays on living cells, revealing that these camelid antibodies bind deeply inside the coat. One nanobody causes rapid loss of cellular motility, possibly due to blockage of VSG mobility on the coat, whose rapid endocytosis and exocytosis are mechanistically linked to Trypanosoma brucei propulsion and whose density is required for survival. Electron microscopy studies demonstrate that this loss of motility is accompanied by rapid formation and shedding of nanovesicles and nanotubes, suggesting that increased protein crowding on the dense membrane can be a driving force for membrane fission in living cells. KW - African trypanosome KW - host-pathogen interaction KW - variant surface glycoproteins KW - immune epitope mapping KW - structural biology KW - nanovesicle formation KW - nanotube formation KW - protein crowding KW - membrane fission Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270285 VL - 37 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Trinks, Nora A1 - Reinhard, Sebastian A1 - Drobny, Matthias A1 - Heilig, Linda A1 - Löffler, Jürgen A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Terpitz, Ulrich T1 - Subdiffraction-resolution fluorescence imaging of immunological synapse formation between NK cells and A. fumigatus by expansion microscopy JF - Communications Biology N2 - Expansion microscopy (ExM) enables super-resolution fluorescence imaging on standard microscopes by physical expansion of the sample. However, the investigation of interactions between different organisms such as mammalian and fungal cells by ExM remains challenging because different cell types require different expansion protocols to ensure identical, ideally isotropic expansion of both partners. Here, we introduce an ExM method that enables super-resolved visualization of the interaction between NK cells and Aspergillus fumigatus hyphae. 4-fold expansion in combination with confocal fluorescence imaging allows us to resolve details of cytoskeleton rearrangement as well as NK cells' lytic granules triggered by contact with an RFP-expressing A. fumigatus strain. In particular, subdiffraction-resolution images show polarized degranulation upon contact formation and the presence of LAMP1 surrounding perforin at the NK cell-surface post degranulation. Our data demonstrate that optimized ExM protocols enable the investigation of immunological synapse formation between two different species with so far unmatched spatial resolution. KW - biological fluorescence KW - fluorescence imaging KW - imaging the immune system KW - infectious diseases KW - super-resolution microscopy Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-264996 VL - 4 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Djuzenova, Cholpon S. A1 - Fischer, Thomas A1 - Katzer, Astrid A1 - Sisario, Dmitri A1 - Korsa, Tessa A1 - Streussloff, Gudrun A1 - Sukhorukov, Vladimir L. A1 - Flentje, Michael T1 - Opposite effects of the triple target (DNA-PK/PI3K/mTOR) inhibitor PI-103 on the radiation sensitivity of glioblastoma cell lines proficient and deficient in DNA-PKcs JF - BMC Cancer N2 - Background: Radiotherapy is routinely used to combat glioblastoma (GBM). However, the treatment efficacy is often limited by the radioresistance of GBM cells. Methods: Two GBM lines MO59K and MO59J, differing in intrinsic radiosensitivity and mutational status of DNA-PK and ATM, were analyzed regarding their response to DNA-PK/PI3K/mTOR inhibition by PI-103 in combination with radiation. To this end we assessed colony-forming ability, induction and repair of DNA damage by gamma H2AX and 53BP1, expression of marker proteins, including those belonging to NHEJ and HR repair pathways, degree of apoptosis, autophagy, and cell cycle alterations. Results: We found that PI-103 radiosensitized MO59K cells but, surprisingly, it induced radiation resistance in MO59J cells. Treatment of MO59K cells with PI-103 lead to protraction of the DNA damage repair as compared to drug-free irradiated cells. In PI-103-treated and irradiated MO59J cells the foci numbers of both proteins was higher than in the drug-free samples, but a large portion of DNA damage was quickly repaired. Another cell line-specific difference includes diminished expression of p53 in MO59J cells, which was further reduced by PI-103. Additionally, PI-103-treated MO59K cells exhibited an increased expression of the apoptosis marker cleaved PARP and increased subG1 fraction. Moreover, irradiation induced a strong G2 arrest in MO59J cells (similar to 80% vs. similar to 50% in MO59K), which was, however, partially reduced in the presence of PI-103. In contrast, treatment with PI-103 increased the G2 fraction in irradiated MO59K cells. Conclusions: The triple-target inhibitor PI-103 exerted radiosensitization on MO59K cells, but, unexpectedly, caused radioresistance in the MO59J line, lacking DNA-PK. The difference is most likely due to low expression of the DNA-PK substrate p53 in MO59J cells, which was further reduced by PI-103. This led to less apoptosis as compared to drug-free MO59J cells and enhanced survival via partially abolished cell-cycle arrest. The findings suggest that the lack of DNA-PK-dependent NHEJ in MO59J line might be compensated by DNA-PK independent DSB repair via a yet unknown mechanism. KW - DNA damage KW - DNA-PK KW - Histone gamma H2AX KW - p53 KW - Radiation sensitivity Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265826 VL - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schubert, Jonathan A1 - Schulze, Andrea A1 - Prodromou, Chrisostomos A1 - Neuweiler, Hannes T1 - Two-colour single-molecule photoinduced electron transfer fluorescence imaging microscopy of chaperone dynamics JF - Nature Communications N2 - Many proteins are molecular machines, whose function is dependent on multiple conformational changes that are initiated and tightly controlled through biochemical stimuli. Their mechanistic understanding calls for spectroscopy that can probe simultaneously such structural coordinates. Here we present two-colour fluorescence microscopy in combination with photoinduced electron transfer (PET) probes as a method that simultaneously detects two structural coordinates in single protein molecules, one colour per coordinate. This contrasts with the commonly applied resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique that requires two colours per coordinate. We demonstrate the technique by directly and simultaneously observing three critical structural changes within the Hsp90 molecular chaperone machinery. Our results reveal synchronicity of conformational motions at remote sites during ATPase-driven closure of the Hsp90 molecular clamp, providing evidence for a cooperativity mechanism in the chaperone’s catalytic cycle. Single-molecule PET fluorescence microscopy opens up avenues in the multi-dimensional exploration of protein dynamics and allosteric mechanisms. KW - chaperones KW - fluorescence spectroscopy KW - molecular conformation KW - single-molecule biophysics KW - total internal reflection microscopy Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265754 VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duque, Laura A1 - Poelman, Erik H. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Plant age at the time of ozone exposure affects flowering patterns, biotic interactions and reproduction of wild mustard JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Exposure of plants to environmental stressors can modify their metabolism, interactions with other organisms and reproductive success. Tropospheric ozone is a source of plant stress. We investigated how an acute exposure to ozone at different times of plant development affects reproductive performance, as well as the flowering patterns and the interactions with pollinators and herbivores, of wild mustard plants. The number of open flowers was higher on plants exposed to ozone at earlier ages than on the respective controls, while plants exposed at later ages showed a tendency for decreased number of open flowers. The changes in the number of flowers provided a good explanation for the ozone-induced effects on reproductive performance and on pollinator visitation. Ozone exposure at earlier ages also led to either earlier or extended flowering periods. Moreover, ozone tended to increase herbivore abundance, with responses depending on herbivore taxa and the plant age at the time of ozone exposure. These results suggest that the effects of ozone exposure depend on the developmental stage of the plant, affecting the flowering patterns in different directions, with consequences for pollination and reproduction of annual crops and wild species. KW - abiotic KW - environmental impact KW - plant ecology Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265742 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Walter, Thomas A1 - Degen, Jacqueline A1 - Pfeiffer, Keram A1 - Stöckl, Anna A1 - Montenegro, Sergio A1 - Degen, Tobias T1 - A new innovative real-time tracking method for flying insects applicable under natural conditions JF - BMC Zoology N2 - Background Sixty percent of all species are insects, yet despite global efforts to monitor animal movement patterns, insects are continuously underrepresented. This striking difference between species richness and the number of species monitored is not due to a lack of interest but rather to the lack of technical solutions. Often the accuracy and speed of established tracking methods is not high enough to record behavior and react to it experimentally in real-time, which applies in particular to small flying animals. Results Our new method of real-time tracking relates to frequencies of solar radiation which are almost completely absorbed by traveling through the atmosphere. For tracking, photoluminescent tags with a peak emission (1400 nm), which lays in such a region of strong absorption through the atmosphere, were attached to the animals. The photoluminescent properties of passivated lead sulphide quantum dots were responsible for the emission of light by the tags and provide a superb signal-to noise ratio. We developed prototype markers with a weight of 12.5 mg and a diameter of 5 mm. Furthermore, we developed a short wave infrared detection system which can record and determine the position of an animal in a heterogeneous environment with a delay smaller than 10 ms. With this method we were able to track tagged bumblebees as well as hawk moths in a flight arena that was placed outside on a natural meadow. Conclusion Our new method eliminates the necessity of a constant or predictable environment for many experimental setups. Furthermore, we postulate that the developed matrix-detector mounted to a multicopter will enable tracking of small flying insects, over medium range distances (>1000m) in the near future because: a) the matrix-detector equipped with an 70 mm interchangeable lens weighs less than 380 g, b) it evaluates the position of an animal in real-time and c) it can directly control and communicate with electronic devices. KW - natural environment KW - insect tracking KW - real-time KW - movement ecology KW - heterogeneous background Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265716 VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adolfi, Mateus C. A1 - Du, Kang A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Cabau, Cédric A1 - Zahm, Margot A1 - Klopp, Christophe A1 - Feron, Romain A1 - Paixão, Rômulo V. A1 - Varela, Eduardo S. A1 - de Almeida, Fernanda L. A1 - de Oliveira, Marcos A. A1 - Nóbrega, Rafael H. A1 - Lopez-Roques, Céline A1 - Iampietro, Carole A1 - Lluch, Jérôme A1 - Kloas, Werner A1 - Wuertz, Sven A1 - Schaefer, Fabian A1 - Stöck, Matthias A1 - Guiguen, Yann A1 - Schartl, Manfred T1 - A duplicated copy of id2b is an unusual sex-determining candidate gene on the Y chromosome of arapaima (Arapaima gigas) JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Arapaima gigas is one of the largest freshwater fish species of high ecological and economic importance. Overfishing and habitat destruction are severe threats to the remaining wild populations. By incorporating a chromosomal Hi-C contact map, we improved the arapaima genome assembly to chromosome-level, revealing an unexpected high degree of chromosome rearrangements during evolution of the bonytongues (Osteoglossiformes). Combining this new assembly with pool-sequencing of male and female genomes, we identified id2bbY, a duplicated copy of the inhibitor of DNA binding 2b (id2b) gene on the Y chromosome as candidate male sex-determining gene. A PCR-test for id2bbY was developed, demonstrating that this gene is a reliable male-specific marker for genotyping. Expression analyses showed that this gene is expressed in juvenile male gonads. Its paralog, id2ba, exhibits a male-biased expression in immature gonads. Transcriptome analyses and protein structure predictions confirm id2bbY as a prime candidate for the master sex-determiner. Acting through the TGF beta signaling pathway, id2bbY from arapaima would provide the first evidence for a link of this family of transcriptional regulators to sex determination. Our study broadens our current understanding about the evolution of sex determination genetic networks and provide a tool for improving arapaima aquaculture for commercial and conservation purposes. KW - evolutionary genetics KW - genetic markers KW - genome Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265672 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Martín, Ovidio Jiménez A1 - Schlosser, Andreas A1 - Furtwängler, Rhoikos A1 - Wegert, Jenny A1 - Gessler, Manfred T1 - MYCN and MAX alterations in Wilms tumor and identification of novel N-MYC interaction partners as biomarker candidates JF - Cancer Cell International N2 - Background Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common renal tumor in childhood. Among others, MYCN copy number gain and MYCN P44L and MAX R60Q mutations have been identified in WT. MYCN encodes a transcription factor that requires dimerization with MAX to activate transcription of numerous target genes. MYCN gain has been associated with adverse prognosis in different childhood tumors including WT. The MYCN P44L and MAX R60Q mutations, located in either the transactivating or basic helix-loop-helix domain, respectively, are predicted to be damaging by different pathogenicity prediction tools, but the functional consequences remain to be characterized. Methods We screened a large cohort of unselected WTs for MYCN and MAX alterations. Wild-type and mutant protein function were characterized biochemically, and we analyzed the N-MYC protein interactome by mass spectrometric analysis of N-MYC containing protein complexes. Results Mutation screening revealed mutation frequencies of 3% for MYCN P44L and 0.9% for MAX R60Q that are associated with a higher risk of relapse. Biochemical characterization identified a reduced transcriptional activation potential for MAX R60Q, while the MYCN P44L mutation did not change activation potential or protein stability. The protein interactome of N-MYC-P44L was likewise not altered as shown by mass spectrometric analyses of purified N-MYC complexes. Nevertheless, we could identify a number of novel N-MYC partner proteins, e.g. PEG10, YEATS2, FOXK1, CBLL1 and MCRS1, whose expression is correlated with MYCN in WT samples and several of these are known for their own oncogenic potential. Conclusions The strongly elevated risk of relapse associated with mutant MYCN and MAX or elevated MYCN expression corroborates their role in WT oncogenesis. Together with the newly identified co-expressed interactors they expand the range of potential biomarkers for WT stratification and targeting, especially for high-risk WT. KW - Wilms tumor KW - MYCN KW - MAX KW - interactome KW - mutation screening Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265542 VL - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Molinas-González, Carlos R. A1 - Castro, Jorge A1 - González-Megías, Adela A1 - Leverkus, Alexandro B. T1 - Effects of post-fire deadwood management on soil macroarthropod communities JF - Forests N2 - Dead wood comprises a vast amount of biological legacies that set the scene for ecological regeneration after wildfires, yet its removal is the most frequent management strategy worldwide. Soil-dwelling organisms are conspicuous, and they provide essential ecosystem functions, but their possible affection by different post-fire management strategies has so far been neglected. We analyzed the abundance, richness, and composition of belowground macroarthropod communities under two contrasting dead-wood management regimes after a large wildfire in the Sierra Nevada Natural and National Park (Southeast Spain). Two plots at different elevation were established, each containing three replicates of two experimental treatments: partial cut, where trees were cut and their branches lopped off and left over the ground, and salvage logging, where all the trees were cut, logs were piled, branches were mechanically masticated, and slash was spread on the ground. Ten years after the application of the treatments, soil cores were extracted from two types of microhabitat created by these treatments: bare-soil (in both treatments) and under-logs (in the partial cut treatment only). Soil macroarthropod assemblages were dominated by Hemiptera and Hymenoptera (mostly ants) and were more abundant and richer in the lowest plot. The differences between dead-wood treatments were most evident at the scale of management interventions: abundance and richness were lowest after salvage logging, even under similar microhabitats (bare-soil). However, there were no significant differences between microhabitat types on abundance and richness within the partial cut treatment. Higher abundance and richness in the partial cut treatment likely resulted from higher resource availability and higher plant diversity after natural regeneration. Our results suggest that belowground macroarthropod communities are sensitive to the manipulation of dead-wood legacies and that management through salvage logging could reduce soil macroarthropod recuperation compared to other treatments with less intense management even a decade after application. KW - forest fire KW - burnt-wood KW - species richness KW - soil fauna KW - post-fire management Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193079 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 10 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mrestani, Achmed A1 - Pauli, Martin A1 - Kollmannsberger, Philip A1 - Repp, Felix A1 - Kittel, Robert J. A1 - Eilers, Jens A1 - Doose, Sören A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Sirén, Anna-Leena A1 - Heckmann, Manfred A1 - Paul, Mila M. T1 - Active zone compaction correlates with presynaptic homeostatic potentiation JF - Cell Reports N2 - Neurotransmitter release is stabilized by homeostatic plasticity. Presynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP) operates on timescales ranging from minute- to life-long adaptations and likely involves reorganization of presynaptic active zones (AZs). At Drosophila melanogaster neuromuscular junctions, earlier work ascribed AZ enlargement by incorporating more Bruchpilot (Brp) scaffold protein a role in PHP. We use localization microscopy (direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy [dSTORM]) and hierarchical density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (HDBSCAN) to study AZ plasticity during PHP at the synaptic mesoscale. We find compaction of individual AZs in acute philanthotoxin-induced and chronic genetically induced PHP but unchanged copy numbers of AZ proteins. Compaction even occurs at the level of Brp subclusters, which move toward AZ centers, and in Rab3 interacting molecule (RIM)-binding protein (RBP) subclusters. Furthermore, correlative confocal and dSTORM imaging reveals how AZ compaction in PHP translates into apparent increases in AZ area and Brp protein content, as implied earlier. KW - active zone KW - Bruchpilot KW - RIM-binding protein KW - compaction KW - homeostasis KW - presynaptic plasticity KW - super-resolution microscopy Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265497 VL - 37 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitz, Werner A1 - Ries, Elena A1 - Koderer, Corinna A1 - Völter, Maximilian Friedrich A1 - Wünsch, Anna Chiara A1 - El-Mesery, Mohamed A1 - Frackmann, Kyra A1 - Kübler, Alexander Christian A1 - Linz, Christian A1 - Seher, Axel T1 - Cysteine restriction in murine L929 fibroblasts as an alternative strategy to methionine restriction in cancer therapy JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences N2 - Methionine restriction (MetR) is an efficient method of amino acid restriction (AR) in cells and organisms that induces low energy metabolism (LEM) similar to caloric restriction (CR). The implementation of MetR as a therapy for cancer or other diseases is not simple since the elimination of a single amino acid in the diet is difficult. However, the in vivo turnover rate of cysteine is usually higher than the rate of intake through food. For this reason, every cell can enzymatically synthesize cysteine from methionine, which enables the use of specific enzymatic inhibitors. In this work, we analysed the potential of cysteine restriction (CysR) in the murine cell line L929. This study determined metabolic fingerprints using mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The profiles were compared with profiles created in an earlier work under MetR. The study was supplemented by proliferation studies using D-amino acid analogues and inhibitors of intracellular cysteine synthesis. CysR showed a proliferation inhibition potential comparable to that of MetR. However, the metabolic footprints differed significantly and showed that CysR does not induce classic LEM at the metabolic level. Nevertheless, CysR offers great potential as an alternative for decisive interventions in general and tumour metabolism at the metabolic level. KW - methionine restriction KW - cysteine restriction KW - mass spectrometry KW - LC/MS KW - cancer therapy KW - caloric restriction KW - homocysteine KW - amino acid analogues KW - cysteine synthase inhibitor Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265486 SN - 1422-0067 VL - 22 IS - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Uhler, Johannes A1 - Redlich, Sarah A1 - Zhang, Jie A1 - Hothorn, Torsten A1 - Tobisch, Cynthia A1 - Ewald, Jörg A1 - Thorn, Simon A1 - Seibold, Sebastian A1 - Mitesser, Oliver A1 - Morinère, Jérôme A1 - Bozicevic, Vedran A1 - Benjamin, Caryl S. A1 - Englmeier, Jana A1 - Fricke, Ute A1 - Ganuza, Cristina A1 - Haensel, Maria A1 - Riebl, Rebekka A1 - Rojas-Botero, Sandra A1 - Rummler, Thomas A1 - Uphus, Lars A1 - Schmidt, Stefan A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Müller, Jörg T1 - Relationships of insect biomass and richness with land use along a climate gradient JF - Nature Communications N2 - Recently reported insect declines have raised both political and social concern. Although the declines have been attributed to land use and climate change, supporting evidence suffers from low taxonomic resolution, short time series, a focus on local scales, and the collinearity of the identified drivers. In this study, we conducted a systematic assessment of insect populations in southern Germany, which showed that differences in insect biomass and richness are highly context dependent. We found the largest difference in biomass between semi-natural and urban environments (-42%), whereas differences in total richness (-29%) and the richness of threatened species (-56%) were largest from semi-natural to agricultural environments. These results point to urbanization and agriculture as major drivers of decline. We also found that richness and biomass increase monotonously with increasing temperature, independent of habitat. The contrasting patterns of insect biomass and richness question the use of these indicators as mutual surrogates. Our study provides support for the implementation of more comprehensive measures aimed at habitat restoration in order to halt insect declines. KW - biodiversity KW - ecology Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265058 VL - 12 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lasway, Julius V. A1 - Kinabo, Neema R. A1 - Mremi, Rudolf F. A1 - Martin, Emanuel H. A1 - Nyakunga, Oliver C. A1 - Sanya, John J. A1 - Rwegasira, Gration M. A1 - Lesio, Nicephor A1 - Gideon, Hulda A1 - Pauly, Alain A1 - Eardley, Connal A1 - Peters, Marcell K. A1 - Peterson, Andrew T. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Njovu, Henry K. T1 - A synopsis of the Bee occurrence data of northern Tanzania JF - Biodiversity Data Journal N2 - Background Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) are the most important group of pollinators with about 20,507 known species worldwide. Despite the critical role of bees in providing pollination services, studies aiming at understanding which species are present across disturbance gradients are scarce. Limited taxononomic information for the existing and unidentified bee species in Tanzania make their conservation haphazard. Here, we present a dataset of bee species records obtained from a survey in nothern Tanzania i.e. Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara regions. Our findings serve as baseline data necessary for understanding the diversity and distribution of bees in the northern parts of the country, which is a critical step in devising robust conservation and monitoring strategies for their populations. New information In this paper, we present information on 45 bee species belonging to 20 genera and four families sampled using a combination of sweep-netting and pan trap methods. Most species (27, ~ 60%) belong to the family Halictidae followed by 16 species (35.5%) from the family Apidae. Megachilidae and Andrenidae were the least represented, each with only one species (2.2%). Additional species of Apidae and Megachilidae sampled during this survey are not yet published on Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), once they will be available on GBIF, they will be published in a subsequent paper. From a total of 953 occurrences, highest numbers were recorded in Kilimanjaro Region (n = 511), followed by Arusha (n = 410) and Manyara (n = 32), but this pattern reflects the sampling efforts of the research project rather than real bias in the distributions of bee species in northern Tanzania. KW - agriculture KW - bee pollinator KW - distribution KW - disturbance gradient KW - grazing KW - species diversity KW - Tanzania Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265018 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stelzner, Kathrin A1 - Boyny, Aziza A1 - Hertlein, Tobias A1 - Sroka, Aneta A1 - Moldovan, Adriana A1 - Paprotka, Kerstin A1 - Kessie, David A1 - Mehling, Helene A1 - Potempa, Jan A1 - Ohlsen, Knut A1 - Fraunholz, Martin J. A1 - Rudel, Thomas T1 - Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus employs the cysteine protease staphopain A to induce host cell death in epithelial cells JF - PLoS Pathogens N2 - Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, which can invade and survive in non-professional and professional phagocytes. Uptake by host cells is thought to contribute to pathogenicity and persistence of the bacterium. Upon internalization by epithelial cells, cytotoxic S. aureus strains can escape from the phagosome, replicate in the cytosol and induce host cell death. Here, we identified a staphylococcal cysteine protease to induce cell death after translocation of intracellular S. aureus into the host cell cytoplasm. We demonstrated that loss of staphopain A function leads to delayed onset of host cell death and prolonged intracellular replication of S. aureus in epithelial cells. Overexpression of staphopain A in a non-cytotoxic strain facilitated intracellular killing of the host cell even in the absence of detectable intracellular replication. Moreover, staphopain A contributed to efficient colonization of the lung in a mouse pneumonia model. In phagocytic cells, where intracellular S. aureus is exclusively localized in the phagosome, staphopain A did not contribute to cytotoxicity. Our study suggests that staphopain A is utilized by S. aureus to exit the epithelial host cell and thus contributes to tissue destruction and dissemination of infection. Author summary Staphylococcus aureus is an antibiotic-resistant pathogen that emerges in hospital and community settings and can cause a variety of diseases ranging from skin abscesses to lung inflammation and blood poisoning. The bacterium can asymptomatically colonize the upper respiratory tract and skin of humans and take advantage of opportune conditions, like immunodeficiency or breached barriers, to cause infection. Although S. aureus was not regarded as intracellular bacterium, it can be internalized by human cells and subsequently exit the host cells by induction of cell death, which is considered to cause tissue destruction and spread of infection. The bacterial virulence factors and underlying molecular mechanisms involved in the intracellular lifestyle of S. aureus remain largely unknown. We identified a bacterial cysteine protease to contribute to host cell death of epithelial cells mediated by intracellular S. aureus. Staphopain A induced killing of the host cell after translocation of the pathogen into the cell cytosol, while bacterial proliferation was not required. Further, the protease enhanced survival of the pathogen during lung infection. These findings reveal a novel, intracellular role for the bacterial protease staphopain A. KW - Staphylococcus aureus KW - Staphylococcal infection KW - host cells KW - HeLa cells KW - cytotoxicity KW - intracellular pathogens KW - apoptosis KW - epithelial cells Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-263908 VL - 17 IS - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bakari-Soale, Majeed A1 - Ikenga, Nonso Josephat A1 - Scheibe, Marion A1 - Butter, Falk A1 - Jones, Nicola G. A1 - Kramer, Susanne A1 - Engstler, Markus T1 - The nucleolar DExD/H protein Hel66 is involved in ribosome biogenesis in Trypanosoma brucei JF - Scientific Reports N2 - The biosynthesis of ribosomes is a complex cellular process involving ribosomal RNA, ribosomal proteins and several further trans-acting factors. DExD/H box proteins constitute the largest family of trans-acting protein factors involved in this process. Several members of this protein family have been directly implicated in ribosome biogenesis in yeast. In trypanosomes, ribosome biogenesis differs in several features from the process described in yeast. Here, we have identified the DExD/H box helicase Hel66 as being involved in ribosome biogenesis. The protein is unique to Kinetoplastida, localises to the nucleolus and its depletion via RNAi caused a severe growth defect. Loss of the protein resulted in a decrease of global translation and accumulation of rRNA processing intermediates for both the small and large ribosomal subunits. Only a few factors involved in trypanosome rRNA biogenesis have been described so far and our findings contribute to gaining a more comprehensive picture of this essential process. KW - infection KW - parasite evolution KW - parasite genetics KW - RNA Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-263872 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schuster, Sarah A1 - Lisack, Jaime A1 - Subota, Ines A1 - Zimmermann, Henriette A1 - Reuter, Christian A1 - Mueller, Tobias A1 - Morriswood, Brooke A1 - Engstler, Markus T1 - Unexpected plasiticty in the life cycle of Trypanosoma brucei JF - eLife N2 - African trypanosomes cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle. These unicellular parasites are transmitted by the bloodsucking tsetse fly. In the mammalian host’s circulation, proliferating slender stage cells differentiate into cell cycle-arrested stumpy stage cells when they reach high population densities. This stage transition is thought to fulfil two main functions: first, it auto-regulates the parasite load in the host; second, the stumpy stage is regarded as the only stage capable of successful vector transmission. Here, we show that proliferating slender stage trypanosomes express the mRNA and protein of a known stumpy stage marker, complete the complex life cycle in the fly as successfully as the stumpy stage, and require only a single parasite for productive infection. These findings suggest a reassessment of the traditional view of the trypanosome life cycle. They may also provide a solution to a long-lasting paradox, namely the successful transmission of parasites in chronic infections, despite low parasitemia. KW - trypanosoma KW - sleeping sickness KW - tsetse fly KW - transmission KW - life cycle KW - development Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261744 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Berberich, Andreas A1 - Kurz, Andreas A1 - Reinhard, Sebastian A1 - Paul, Torsten Johann A1 - Burd, Paul Ray A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Kollmannsberger, Philip T1 - Fourier Ring Correlation and anisotropic kernel density estimation improve deep learning based SMLM reconstruction of microtubules JF - Frontiers in Bioinformatics N2 - Single-molecule super-resolution microscopy (SMLM) techniques like dSTORM can reveal biological structures down to the nanometer scale. The achievable resolution is not only defined by the localization precision of individual fluorescent molecules, but also by their density, which becomes a limiting factor e.g., in expansion microscopy. Artificial deep neural networks can learn to reconstruct dense super-resolved structures such as microtubules from a sparse, noisy set of data points. This approach requires a robust method to assess the quality of a predicted density image and to quantitatively compare it to a ground truth image. Such a quality measure needs to be differentiable to be applied as loss function in deep learning. We developed a new trainable quality measure based on Fourier Ring Correlation (FRC) and used it to train deep neural networks to map a small number of sampling points to an underlying density. Smooth ground truth images of microtubules were generated from localization coordinates using an anisotropic Gaussian kernel density estimator. We show that the FRC criterion ideally complements the existing state-of-the-art multiscale structural similarity index, since both are interpretable and there is no trade-off between them during optimization. The TensorFlow implementation of our FRC metric can easily be integrated into existing deep learning workflows. KW - dSTORM KW - deep learning–artificial neural network (DL-ANN) KW - single molecule localization microscopy KW - microtubule cytoskeleton KW - super-resolution Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261686 VL - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rajab, Suhaila A1 - Bismin, Leah A1 - Schwarze, Simone A1 - Pinggera, Alexandra A1 - Greger, Ingo H. A1 - Neuweiler, Hannes T1 - Allosteric coupling of sub-millisecond clamshell motions in ionotropic glutamate receptor ligand-binding domains JF - Communications Biology N2 - Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) mediate signal transmission in the brain and are important drug targets. Structural studies show snapshots of iGluRs, which provide a mechanistic understanding of gating, yet the rapid motions driving the receptor machinery are largely elusive. Here we detect kinetics of conformational change of isolated clamshell-shaped ligand-binding domains (LBDs) from the three major iGluR sub-types, which initiate gating upon binding of agonists. We design fluorescence probes to measure domain motions through nanosecond fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. We observe a broad kinetic spectrum of LBD dynamics that underlie activation of iGluRs. Microsecond clamshell motions slow upon dimerization and freeze upon binding of full and partial agonists. We uncover allosteric coupling within NMDA LBD hetero-dimers, where binding of L-glutamate to the GluN2A LBD stalls clamshell motions of the glycine-binding GluN1 LBD. Our results reveal rapid LBD dynamics across iGluRs and suggest a mechanism of negative allosteric cooperativity in NMDA receptors. KW - fluorescence spectroscopy KW - kinetics KW - ligand-gated ion channels KW - molecular neuroscience Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261678 VL - 4 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breitenbach, Tim A1 - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte A1 - Dandekar, Thomas T1 - An effective model of endogenous clocks and external stimuli determining circadian rhythms JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Circadian endogenous clocks of eukaryotic organisms are an established and rapidly developing research field. To investigate and simulate in an effective model the effect of external stimuli on such clocks and their components we developed a software framework for download and simulation. The application is useful to understand the different involved effects in a mathematical simple and effective model. This concerns the effects of Zeitgebers, feedback loops and further modifying components. We start from a known mathematical oscillator model, which is based on experimental molecular findings. This is extended with an effective framework that includes the impact of external stimuli on the circadian oscillations including high dose pharmacological treatment. In particular, the external stimuli framework defines a systematic procedure by input-output-interfaces to couple different oscillators. The framework is validated by providing phase response curves and ranges of entrainment. Furthermore, Aschoffs rule is computationally investigated. It is shown how the external stimuli framework can be used to study biological effects like points of singularity or oscillators integrating different signals at once. The mathematical framework and formalism is generic and allows to study in general the effect of external stimuli on oscillators and other biological processes. For an easy replication of each numerical experiment presented in this work and an easy implementation of the framework the corresponding Mathematica files are fully made available. They can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/bioinfo/computing/circadian/. KW - computational biology and bioinformatics KW - systems biology Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261655 VL - 11 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ambrožová, Lucie A1 - Finnberg, Sven A1 - Feldmann, Benedikt A1 - Buse, Jörn A1 - Preuss, Henry A1 - Ewald, Jörg A1 - Thorn, Simon T1 - Coppicing and topsoil removal promote diversity of dung‐inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae) in forests JF - Agricultural and Forest Entomology N2 - Central European forests experience a substantial loss of open-forest organisms due to forest management and increasing nitrogen deposition. However, management strategies, removing different levels of nitrogen, have been rarely evaluated simultaneously. We tested the additive effects of coppicing and topsoil removal on communities of dung-inhabiting beetles compared to closed forests. We sampled 57 021 beetles, using baited pitfall traps exposed on 27 plots. Experimental treatments resulted in significantly different communities by promoting open-habitat species. While alpha diversity did not differ among treatments, gamma diversity of Geotrupidae and Scarabaeidae and beta diversity of Staphylinidae were higher in coppice than in forest. Functional diversity of rove beetles was higher in both, coppice and topsoil-removed plots, compared to control plots. This was likely driven by higher habitat heterogeneity in established forest openings. Five dung beetle species and four rove beetle species benefitted from coppicing, one red-listed dung beetle and two rove beetle species benefitted from topsoil removal. Our results demonstrate that dung-inhabiting beetles related to open forest patches can be promoted by both, coppicing and additional topsoil removal. A mosaic of coppice and bare-soil-rich patches can hence promote landscape-level gamma diversity of dung and rove beetles within forests. KW - nitrogen uptake KW - dung beetle KW - forest management KW - functional diversity KW - insect decline KW - rove beetle Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258296 VL - 24 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Latifi, Hooman A1 - Holzwarth, Stefanie A1 - Skidmore, Andrew A1 - Brůna, Josef A1 - Červenka, Jaroslav A1 - Darvishzadeh, Roshanak A1 - Hais, Martin A1 - Heiden, Uta A1 - Homolová, Lucie A1 - Krzystek, Peter A1 - Schneider, Thomas A1 - Starý, Martin A1 - Wang, Tiejun A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Heurich, Marco T1 - A laboratory for conceiving Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs)—The ‘Data pool initiative for the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem’ JF - Methods in Ecology and Evolution N2 - Effects of climate change‐induced events on forest ecosystem dynamics of composition, function and structure call for increased long‐term, interdisciplinary and integrated research on biodiversity indicators, in particular within strictly protected areas with extensive non‐intervention zones. The long‐established concept of forest supersites generally relies on long‐term funds from national agencies and goes beyond the logistic and financial capabilities of state‐ or region‐wide protected area administrations, universities and research institutes. We introduce the concept of data pools as a smaller‐scale, user‐driven and reasonable alternative to co‐develop remote sensing and forest ecosystem science to validated products, biodiversity indicators and management plans. We demonstrate this concept with the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem Data Pool, which has been established as an interdisciplinary, international data pool within the strictly protected Bavarian Forest and Šumava National Parks and currently comprises 10 active partners. We demonstrate how the structure and impact of the data pool differs from comparable cases. We assessed the international influence and visibility of the data pool with the help of a systematic literature search and a brief analysis of the results. Results primarily suggest an increase in the impact and visibility of published material during the life span of the data pool, with highest visibilities achieved by research conducted on leaf traits, vegetation phenology and 3D‐based forest inventory. We conclude that the data pool results in an efficient contribution to the concept of global biodiversity observatory by evolving towards a training platform, functioning as a pool of data and algorithms, directly communicating with management for implementation and providing test fields for feasibility studies on earth observation missions. KW - bohemian forest ecosystem KW - data pool KW - forest ecosystem science KW - remote sensing KW - remote sensing‐enabled essential biodiversity variables Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262743 VL - 12 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sponsler, Douglas A1 - Kallnik, Katharina A1 - Requier, Fabrice A1 - Classen, Alice A1 - Maihoff, A. Fabienne A1 - Sieger, Johanna A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Floral preferences of mountain bumble bees are constrained by functional traits but flexible through elevation and season JF - Oikos N2 - Patterns of resource use by animals can clarify how ecological communities have assembled in the past, how they currently function and how they are likely to respond to future perturbations. Bumble bees (Hymentoptera: Bombus spp.) and their floral hosts provide a diverse yet tractable system in which to explore resource selection in the context of plant–pollinator networks. Under conditions of resource limitation, the ability of bumble bees species to coexist should depend on dietary niche overlap. In this study, we report patterns and dynamics of floral morphotype preferences in a mountain bumble bee community based on ~13 000 observations of bumble bee floral visits recorded along a 1400 m elevation gradient. We found that bumble bees are highly selective generalists, rarely visiting floral morphotypes at the rates predicted by their relative abundances. Preferences also differed markedly across bumble bee species, and these differences were well-explained by variation in bumble bee tongue length, generating patterns of preference similarity that should be expected to predict competition under conditions of resource limitation. Within species, though, morphotype preferences varied by elevation and season, possibly representing adaptive flexibility in response to the high elevational and seasonal turnover of mountain floral communities. Patterns of resource partitioning among bumble bee communities may determine which species can coexist under the altered distributions of bumble bees and their floral hosts caused by climate and land use change. KW - resource selection KW - coexistence KW - competition KW - foraging KW - niche KW - pollinator Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259653 VL - 2022 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Castañeda Londono, Paula Andrea A1 - Banholzer, Nicole A1 - Bannermann, Bridget A1 - Kramer, Susanne T1 - Is mRNA decapping activity of ApaH like phosphatases (ALPH’s) the reason for the loss of cytoplasmic ALPH’s in all eukaryotes but Kinetoplastida? JF - BMC Ecology and Evolution N2 - Background: ApaH like phosphatases (ALPHs) originate from the bacterial ApaH protein and are present in eukaryotes of all eukaryotic super-groups; still, only two proteins have been functionally characterised. One is ALPH1 from the Kinetoplastid Trypanosoma brucei that we recently found to be the mRNA decapping enzyme of the parasite. mRNA decapping by ALPHs is unprecedented in eukaryotes, which usually use nudix hydrolases, but the bacterial ancestor protein ApaH was recently found to decap non-conventional caps of bacterial mRNAs. These findings prompted us to explore whether mRNA decapping by ALPHs is restricted to Kinetoplastida or more widespread among eukaryotes. Results: We screened 824 eukaryotic proteomes with a newly developed Python-based algorithm for the presence of ALPHs and used the data to refine phylogenetic distribution, conserved features, additional domains and predicted intracellular localisation of ALPHs. We found that most eukaryotes have either no ALPH (500/824) or very short ALPHs, consisting almost exclusively of the catalytic domain. These ALPHs had mostly predicted non-cytoplasmic localisations, often supported by the presence of transmembrane helices and signal peptides and in two cases (one in this study) by experimental data. The only exceptions were ALPH1 homologues from Kinetoplastida, that all have unique C-terminal and mostly unique N-terminal extension, and at least the T. brucei enzyme localises to the cytoplasm. Surprisingly, despite of these non-cytoplasmic localisations, ALPHs from all eukaryotic super-groups had in vitro mRNA decapping activity. Conclusions: ALPH was present in the last common ancestor of eukaryotes, but most eukaryotes have either lost the enzyme since, or use it exclusively outside the cytoplasm in organelles in a version consisting of the catalytic domain only. While our data provide no evidence for the presence of further mRNA decapping enzymes among eukaryotic ALPHs, the broad substrate range of ALPHs that includes mRNA caps provides an explanation for the selection against the presence of a cytoplasmic ALPH protein as a mean to protect mRNAs from unregulated degradation. Kinetoplastida succeeded to exploit ALPH as their mRNA decapping enzyme, likely using the Kinetoplastida-unique N- and C-terminal extensions for regulation. KW - ApaH like phosphatase KW - ApaH KW - ALPH KW - Trypanosoma brucei KW - mRNA decapping KW - m7G cap KW - mRNA cap KW - ALPH1 KW - Kinetoplastida Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261180 VL - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Karimi, Sohail M. A1 - Freund, Matthias A1 - Wager, Brittney M. A1 - Knoblauch, Michael A1 - Fromm, Jörg A1 - M. Mueller, Heike A1 - Ache, Peter A1 - Krischke, Markus A1 - Mueller, Martin J. A1 - Müller, Tobias A1 - Dittrich, Marcus A1 - Geilfus, Christoph-Martin A1 - Alfaran, Ahmed H. A1 - Hedrich, Rainer A1 - Deeken, Rosalia T1 - Under salt stress guard cells rewire ion transport and abscisic acid signaling JF - New Phytologist N2 - Soil salinity is an increasingly global problem which hampers plant growth and crop yield. Plant productivity depends on optimal water-use efficiency and photosynthetic capacity balanced by stomatal conductance. Whether and how stomatal behavior contributes to salt sensitivity or tolerance is currently unknown. This work identifies guard cell-specific signaling networks exerted by a salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant plant under ionic and osmotic stress conditions accompanied by increasing NaCl loads. We challenged soil-grown Arabidopsis thaliana and Thellungiella salsuginea plants with short- and long-term salinity stress and monitored genome-wide gene expression and signals of guard cells that determine their function. Arabidopsis plants suffered from both salt regimes and showed reduced stomatal conductance while Thellungiella displayed no obvious stress symptoms. The salt-dependent gene expression changes of guard cells supported the ability of the halophyte to maintain high potassium to sodium ratios and to attenuate the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway which the glycophyte kept activated despite fading ABA concentrations. Our study shows that salinity stress and even the different tolerances are manifested on a single cell level. Halophytic guard cells are less sensitive than glycophytic guard cells, providing opportunities to manipulate stomatal behavior and improve plant productivity. KW - soil KW - stomata KW - abscisic acid (ABA) KW - glycophyte Arabidopsis KW - guard cell KW - halophyte Thellungiella/Eutrema KW - ion transport KW - salt stress Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259635 VL - 231 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bae, Soyeon A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Förster, Bernhard A1 - Hilmers, Torben A1 - Hochrein, Sophia A1 - Jacobs, Martin A1 - Leroy, Benjamin M. L. A1 - Pretzsch, Hans A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Mitesser, Oliver T1 - Tracking the temporal dynamics of insect defoliation by high‐resolution radar satellite data JF - Methods in Ecology and Evolution N2 - Quantifying tree defoliation by insects over large areas is a major challenge in forest management, but it is essential in ecosystem assessments of disturbance and resistance against herbivory. However, the trajectory from leaf-flush to insect defoliation to refoliation in broadleaf trees is highly variable. Its tracking requires high temporal- and spatial-resolution data, particularly in fragmented forests. In a unique replicated field experiment manipulating gypsy moth Lymantria dispar densities in mixed-oak forests, we examined the utility of publicly accessible satellite-borne radar (Sentinel-1) to track the fine-scale temporal trajectory of defoliation. The ratio of backscatter intensity between two polarizations from radar data of the growing season constituted a canopy development index (CDI) and a normalized CDI (NCDI), which were validated by optical (Sentinel-2) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data as well by intensive caterpillar sampling from canopy fogging. The CDI and NCDI strongly correlated with optical and TLS data (Spearman's ρ = 0.79 and 0.84, respectively). The ΔNCDII\(_{Defoliation(A−C)}\) significantly explained caterpillar abundance (R\(^{2}\) = 0.52). The NCDI at critical timesteps and ΔNCDI related to defoliation and refoliation well discriminated between heavily and lightly defoliated forests. We demonstrate that the high spatial and temporal resolution and the cloud independence of Sentinel-1 radar potentially enable spatially unrestricted measurements of the highly dynamic canopy herbivory. This can help monitor insect pests, improve the prediction of outbreaks and facilitate the monitoring of forest disturbance, one of the high priority Essential Biodiversity Variables, in the near future. KW - Sentinel-1 KW - canopy herbivory KW - defoliation severity KW - gypsy moth KW - insect disturbance KW - intra-annual time-series KW - Lymantria dispar KW - remote sensing Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258222 VL - 13 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mitjans, M. A1 - Begemann, M. A1 - Ju, A. A1 - Dere, E. A1 - Wüstefeld, L. A1 - Hofer, S. A1 - Hassouna, I. A1 - Balkenhol, J. A1 - Oliveira, B. A1 - Van der Auwera, S. A1 - Tammer, R. A1 - Hammerschmidt, K. A1 - Völzke, H. A1 - Homuth, G. A1 - Cecconi, F. A1 - Chowdhury, K. A1 - Grabe, H. A1 - Frahm, J. A1 - Boretius, S. A1 - Dandekar, T. A1 - Ehrenreich, H. T1 - Sexual dimorphism of \(AMBRA1\)-related autistic features in human and mouse JF - Translational Psychiatry N2 - \(Ambra1\) is linked to autophagy and neurodevelopment. Heterozygous \(Ambra1\) deficiency induces autism-like behavior in a sexually dimorphic manner. Extraordinarily, autistic features are seen in female mice only, combined with stronger Ambra1 protein reduction in brain compared to males. However, significance of \(AMBRA1\) for autistic phenotypes in humans and, apart from behavior, for other autism-typical features, namely early brain enlargement or increased seizure propensity, has remained unexplored. Here we show in two independent human samples that a single normal \(AMBRA1\) genotype, the intronic SNP rs3802890-AA, is associated with autistic features in women, who also display lower \(AMBRA1\) mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells relative to female GG carriers. Located within a non-coding RNA, likely relevant for mRNA and protein interaction, rs3802890 (A versus G allele) may affect its stability through modification of folding, as predicted by \(in\) \(silico\) analysis. Searching for further autism-relevant characteristics in \(Ambra1^{+/−}\) mice, we observe reduced interest of female but not male mutants regarding pheromone signals of the respective other gender in the social intellicage set-up. Moreover, altered pentylentetrazol-induced seizure propensity, an \(in\) \(vivo\) readout of neuronal excitation–inhibition dysbalance, becomes obvious exclusively in female mutants. Magnetic resonance imaging reveals mild prepubertal brain enlargement in both genders, uncoupling enhanced brain dimensions from the primarily female expression of all other autistic phenotypes investigated here. These data support a role of \(AMBRA1/Ambra1\) partial loss-of-function genotypes for female autistic traits. Moreover, they suggest \(Ambra1\) heterozygous mice as a novel multifaceted and construct-valid genetic mouse model for female autism. KW - biology KW - clinical genetics KW - molecular neuroscience Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-173782 VL - 2017 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Garitano-Trojaola, Andoni A1 - Sancho, Ana A1 - Götz, Ralph A1 - Eiring, Patrick A1 - Walz, Susanne A1 - Jetani, Hardikkumar A1 - Gil-Pulido, Jesus A1 - Da Via, Matteo Claudio A1 - Teufel, Eva A1 - Rhodes, Nadine A1 - Haertle, Larissa A1 - Arellano-Viera, Estibaliz A1 - Tibes, Raoul A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas A1 - Rasche, Leo A1 - Hudecek, Michael A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Einsele, Hermann A1 - Kraus, Sabrina A1 - Kortüm, Martin K. T1 - Actin cytoskeleton deregulation confers midostaurin resistance in FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia JF - Communications Biology N2 - The presence of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) is one of the most frequent mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is associated with an unfavorable prognosis. FLT3 inhibitors, such as midostaurin, are used clinically but fail to entirely eradicate FLT3-ITD+AML. This study introduces a new perspective and highlights the impact of RAC1-dependent actin cytoskeleton remodeling on resistance to midostaurin in AML. RAC1 hyperactivation leads resistance via hyperphosphorylation of the positive regulator of actin polymerization N-WASP and antiapoptotic BCL-2. RAC1/N-WASP, through ARP2/3 complex activation, increases the number of actin filaments, cell stiffness and adhesion forces to mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) being identified as a biomarker of resistance. Midostaurin resistance can be overcome by a combination of midostaruin, the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax and the RAC1 inhibitor Eht1864 in midostaurin-resistant AML cell lines and primary samples, providing the first evidence of a potential new treatment approach to eradicate FLT3-ITD+AML. Garitano-Trojaola et al. used a combination of human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines and primary samples to show that RAC1-dependent actin cytoskeleton remodeling through BCL2 family plays a key role in resistance to the FLT3 inhibitor, Midostaurin in AML. They showed that by targeting RAC1 and BCL2, Midostaurin resistance was diminished, which potentially paves the way for an innovate treatment approach for FLT3 mutant AML. KW - actin KW - acute myeloid leukaemia Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260709 VL - 4 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eisenhuth, Nicole A1 - Vellmer, Tim A1 - Rauh, Elisa T. A1 - Butter, Falk A1 - Janzen, Christian J. T1 - A DOT1B/Ribonuclease H2 Protein Complex Is Involved in R-Loop Processing, Genomic Integrity, and Antigenic Variation in Trypanosoma brucei JF - mbio N2 - The parasite Trypanosoma brucei periodically changes the expression of protective variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) to evade its host's immune sys-tem in a process known as antigenic variation. One route to change VSG expres-sion is the transcriptional activation of a previously silent VSG expression site (ES), a subtelomeric region containing the VSG genes. Homologous recombination of a different VSG from a large reservoir into the active ES represents another route. The conserved histone methyltransferase DOT1B is involved in transcriptional silencing of inactive ES and influences ES switching kinetics. The molecular machin-ery that enables DOT1B to execute these regulatory functions remains elusive, however. To better understand DOT1B-mediated regulatory processes, we purified DOT1B-associated proteins using complementary biochemical approaches. We iden-tified several novel DOT1B interactors. One of these was the RNase H2 complex, previously shown to resolve RNA-DNA hybrids, maintain genome integrity, and play a role in antigenic variation. Our study revealed that DOT1B depletion results in an increase in RNA-DNA hybrids, accumulation of DNA damage, and ES switch-ing events. Surprisingly, a similar pattern of VSG deregulation was observed in RNase H2 mutants. We propose that both proteins act together in resolving R-loops to ensure genome integrity and contribute to the tightly regulated process of anti-genic variation. KW - DOT1B KW - R-loop KW - antigenic variation KW - chromatin structure KW - genomic integrity Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260698 VL - 12 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Helmprobst, Frederik A1 - Kneitz, Susanne A1 - Klotz, Barbara A1 - Naville, Magali A1 - Dechaud, Corentin A1 - Volff, Jean-Nicolas A1 - Schartl, Manfred T1 - Differential expression of transposable elements in the medaka melanoma model JF - PLoS One N2 - Malignant melanoma incidence is rising worldwide. Its treatment in an advanced state is difficult, and the prognosis of this severe disease is still very poor. One major source of these difficulties is the high rate of metastasis and increased genomic instability leading to a high mutation rate and the development of resistance against therapeutic approaches. Here we investigate as one source of genomic instability the contribution of activation of transposable elements (TEs) within the tumor. We used the well-established medaka melanoma model and RNA-sequencing to investigate the differential expression of TEs in wildtype and transgenic fish carrying melanoma. We constructed a medaka-specific TE sequence library and identified TE sequences that were specifically upregulated in tumors. Validation by qRT- PCR confirmed a specific upregulation of a LINE and an LTR element in malignant melanomas of transgenic fish. KW - melanoma KW - genomics KW - transposable elements KW - cancer genomics KW - malignant tumors KW - gene prediction KW - human genomics KW - retrotransposons Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260615 VL - 16 IS - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Njovu, Henry K. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Gebert, Friederike A1 - Schellenberger Costa, David A1 - Kleyer, Michael A1 - Wagner, Thomas A1 - Peters, Marcell K. T1 - Plant traits mediate the effects of climate on phytophagous beetle diversity on Mt. Kilimanjaro JF - Ecology N2 - Patterns of insect diversity along elevational gradients are well described in ecology. However, it remains little tested how variation in the quantity, quality, and diversity of food resources influence these patterns. Here we analyzed the direct and indirect effects of climate, food quantity (estimated by net primary productivity), quality (variation in the specific leaf area index, leaf nitrogen to phosphorus and leaf carbon to nitrogen ratio), and food diversity (diversity of leaf traits) on the species richness of phytophagous beetles along the broad elevation and land use gradients of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. We sampled beetles at 65 study sites located in both natural and anthropogenic habitats, ranging from 866 to 4,550 m asl. We used path analysis to unravel the direct and indirect effects of predictor variables on species richness. In total, 3,154 phytophagous beetles representing 19 families and 304 morphospecies were collected. We found that the species richness of phytophagous beetles was bimodally distributed along the elevation gradient with peaks at the lowest (˜866 m asl) and upper mid-elevations (˜3,200 m asl) and sharply declined at higher elevations. Path analysis revealed temperature- and climate-driven changes in primary productivity and leaf trait diversity to be the best predictors of changes in the species richness of phytophagous beetles. Species richness increased with increases in mean annual temperature, primary productivity, and with increases in the diversity of leaf traits of local ecosystems. Our study demonstrates that, apart from temperature, the quantity and diversity of food resources play a major role in shaping diversity gradients of phytophagous insects. Drivers of global change, leading to a change of leaf traits and causing reductions in plant diversity and productivity, may consequently reduce the diversity of herbivore assemblages. KW - plant functional traits KW - altitudinal gradient KW - Chrysomelidae KW - Curculionidae KW - diversity gradients KW - elevation gradient KW - functional diversity KW - herbivorous beetles KW - herbivory KW - more-individuals hypothesis KW - phytophagous beetles Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257343 VL - 102 IS - 12 ER -