Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (131)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (131)
Year of publication
- 2022 (131) (remove)
Document Type
- Journal article (106)
- Doctoral Thesis (21)
- Report (2)
- Book (1)
- Preprint (1)
Keywords
- biodiversity (7)
- land use (6)
- climate (4)
- Biodiversität (3)
- SARS-CoV-2 (3)
- USP28 (3)
- cancer (3)
- circadian clock (3)
- ecosystem services (3)
- metabarcoding (3)
- national park (3)
- natural disturbance (3)
- pollination (3)
- recombination (3)
- Ökologie (3)
- DNA damage (2)
- Germany (2)
- Herbivory (2)
- Microscopy (2)
- Scarabaeidae (2)
- Trypanosoma (2)
- active zone (2)
- altitudinal gradients (2)
- arthropods (2)
- bats (2)
- caloric restriction (2)
- cisplatin (2)
- climate change (2)
- cuticular hydrocarbons (2)
- cytokinins (2)
- dSTORM (2)
- ecosystem function (2)
- evolution (2)
- foraging (2)
- forest management (2)
- functional diversity (2)
- insect monitoring (2)
- mass spectrometry (2)
- meiosis (2)
- microclimate (2)
- mutation (2)
- navigation (2)
- neuroanatomy (2)
- neuroethology (2)
- nutrition (2)
- octopamine (2)
- paraspeckles (2)
- phylogeny (2)
- synaptonemal complex (2)
- thermogenesis (2)
- 18S (1)
- 2-DG (1)
- 2-deoxy-D-glucose (1)
- 3D lung tumor tissue models (1)
- 3D tissue model (1)
- 5-methylcytosine (1)
- ACKR4 (1)
- AI (1)
- AIModules (1)
- AKT (1)
- APEX2 (1)
- ATG7 (1)
- ATM (1)
- Acid Sphingomyelinase (1)
- Ackerschmalwand (1)
- Adaptive Optics (1)
- Adaptive Optik (1)
- Agriculture intensification (1)
- Air pollution (1)
- Alps (1)
- Apis dorsata (1)
- Arabidopsis thaliana (1)
- Arten-Energy-Theory (1)
- Aureobasidium pullulans (1)
- BETA-Diversität (1)
- BETA-Multifunktionalität (1)
- Bartak (1)
- Bee abundance (1)
- Bee assemblages (1)
- Bee species richness (1)
- Bialowieza (1)
- Biodiversity conservation (1)
- Borkenkäfer (1)
- Brassicogethes spp. (1)
- CA3 (1)
- CD95 (1)
- COVID-19 (1)
- COVID-19 pandemic (1)
- CPF (1)
- CRC (1)
- CRY evolution (1)
- CX5461 (1)
- Carabid beetles (1)
- Cataglyphis (1)
- Chl (1)
- Chlamydia (1)
- Chlamydia trachomatis (1)
- Chromatinremodeling (1)
- Chromatinremodelling (1)
- Cisplatin (1)
- Co-occurrence matrix (1)
- Complexes (1)
- Cushing (1)
- DNA (1)
- DNA helicase (1)
- DNA replication (1)
- DNA storage (1)
- DNA-PK (1)
- DNA-Reparatur (1)
- DNA-repair (1)
- DNS-Doppelstrangbruch (1)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (1)
- Diversität (1)
- Drosophila melanogaster (1)
- EMT (1)
- Ecology (1)
- Ecosystem services (1)
- Einzelmolekülmikroskopie (1)
- Elektronenmikroskopie (1)
- Endothelial cells (1)
- Endothelzelle (1)
- Erythrozyt (1)
- Expansion Microscopy (1)
- FAAP100 (1)
- FLIMbee (1)
- Fanconi-Anämie (1)
- Fluoreszenz (1)
- Fluoreszenzlebensdauer-Mikroskopie (1)
- Fluoreszenzmikroskopie (1)
- Forschungsstation Fabrikschleichach (1)
- G-protein-coupled receptors (1)
- GPCR (1)
- Genotoxizität (1)
- Geomagnetic Field (1)
- German Research Foundation (1)
- Glioblastom (1)
- Government research funding (1)
- Growth (1)
- H7N9 influenza virus (1)
- HDBSCAN (1)
- HGPS (1)
- HPV (1)
- Hb-Jet (1)
- Herbivore (1)
- Histone (1)
- Histones (1)
- Human land use (1)
- Höhengradient (1)
- IGFBP2 (1)
- IR (1)
- ITS2 (1)
- Japankärpfling (1)
- Jena Experiment (1)
- KRAS biomarker signatures (1)
- Kilimandscharo (1)
- Klimaänderung (1)
- Kompass (1)
- Konfokale Mikroskopie (1)
- L929 (1)
- LAMN (1)
- LC/MS (1)
- LC–HRESIMS (1)
- Landnutzung (1)
- Landnutzungsgradient (1)
- Landsat (1)
- Learning & Memory (1)
- Learning Walk (1)
- LiDAR (1)
- Livestock grazing (1)
- Lymantria dispar (1)
- MIZ1 (1)
- MMP-1 (1)
- MTH1 (1)
- MTL30 (1)
- MYC (1)
- Malaise trap (1)
- Mc4r (1)
- Medaka (1)
- Medaka fish (1)
- MiMIC (1)
- Mikroskopie (1)
- Molekularbiologie (1)
- Monoklonaler Antikörper (1)
- Mrap2 (1)
- Mustervergleich (1)
- NDVI (1)
- NEAT1 (1)
- NONO (1)
- NSCLC (1)
- Nahrungserwerb (1)
- Nanopartikel (1)
- National Science Foundation (1)
- Nationalpark (1)
- Natural pest control (1)
- Navigation (1)
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae (1)
- Neuroethologie (1)
- Neuroethology (1)
- Olea (1)
- Opsin (1)
- Orthoptera (1)
- Ozone (1)
- PI3K (1)
- PSMA (1)
- PTEN (1)
- Patch-clamp (1)
- Pattern Matching (1)
- Pest management (1)
- Pfam domain (1)
- Plant (1)
- Plant-insect interactions (1)
- Plant-pollinator interactions (1)
- Plasma membrane repair (1)
- Pollination (1)
- Pollination services (1)
- Pollinator (1)
- Polyethism (1)
- Predation (1)
- Proteine (1)
- Prädation (1)
- Puberty (1)
- Pubertät (1)
- R0 (1)
- RIM1α (1)
- RNA interference (1)
- RNA secondary structure (1)
- RNA sequencing (1)
- RNAPOL1 (1)
- Repetitive Exposition (1)
- SF3 helicase (1)
- SMLM (1)
- SSI (1)
- STED-Mikroskopie (1)
- STORM (1)
- SV pool (1)
- Savannah ecosystems (1)
- Schwertkärpfling (1)
- Schädlingsbekämpfung (1)
- Sentinel-1 (1)
- Sentinel-2 (1)
- Sinapis arvensis (1)
- Single Molecule Localization Microscopy (1)
- Squamous cell carcinoma (1)
- Staphylococcus (1)
- Staphylococcus aureus (1)
- Synapse (1)
- Säugetiere (1)
- T-cell epitope (1)
- TCSPC (1)
- TGF-β (1)
- TH1579 (1)
- TH588 (1)
- TNF-α (1)
- Tanzania (1)
- Taufliege (1)
- Townes (1)
- Transkription (1)
- Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (1)
- Unc-13 (1)
- Usher syndrome (1)
- Ustilago maydis (1)
- V1–V9 (1)
- V4 (1)
- V7/V8 (1)
- Variants (1)
- WNT (1)
- Waldökosystem (1)
- Xiphophorus (1)
- Y chromosome degeneration (1)
- Zellmigration (1)
- Zersetzer (1)
- ZfKD (1)
- Zytotoxizität (1)
- achiasmatic (1)
- acid sphingomyelinase (1)
- acoustic stream (1)
- activity (1)
- acute brain slices (1)
- adaptation (1)
- adrenal surgery (1)
- adrenalectomia (1)
- adrenocortical adenocarcinoma (1)
- aerobiology (1)
- aging (1)
- agri-environment scheme (1)
- agriculture (1)
- agroecology (1)
- agroforestry (1)
- allergens (1)
- allergy (1)
- allometry (1)
- alpine plants (1)
- amino acid (1)
- amino acid restriction (1)
- animal behaviour (1)
- anion channel (1)
- apis mellifera (1)
- appendectomy (1)
- appendicitis (1)
- appendix (1)
- area‐concentrated search (1)
- arthropod predators (1)
- ash dieback (1)
- autophagy (1)
- bacterial meningitis (1)
- bark beetle disturbance (1)
- bee abundance (1)
- bee body size (1)
- bee decline (1)
- bee pollination (1)
- bee species richness (1)
- beech forests (1)
- beetle communities (1)
- beetles (1)
- beta diversity (1)
- beta-multifunctionality (1)
- binding pocket (1)
- biodiversity exploratories (1)
- biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship (1)
- bioinformatics (1)
- biological activities (1)
- biomimetic tissue models (1)
- bioorthogonal labeling (1)
- biosonar (1)
- birds (1)
- body size (1)
- boolean in silico models (1)
- brain endothelial cells (1)
- bumblebees (1)
- buparlisib (1)
- c-MYC (1)
- c-Myc (1)
- cancer diagnosis (1)
- cancer dissemination (1)
- canopy herbivory (1)
- cardioactive factor (1)
- cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) (1)
- caspase-3 (1)
- cell death (1)
- cell membrane model (1)
- cellular reprogramming (1)
- central complex (1)
- ceramidase (1)
- ceramide (1)
- ceramides (1)
- chalcidoid wasps (1)
- channelrhodopsin (1)
- chemical communication (1)
- chemical mimicry (1)
- chromatin (1)
- chrysididae (1)
- circadian clock neurons (1)
- climate changes (1)
- climatic factors (1)
- climatic gradients (1)
- clock network (1)
- co-culture (1)
- co-expression coefficient (1)
- cocoa (1)
- coexistence (1)
- cold stress (1)
- coleoptera (1)
- colon resection (1)
- colorectal cancer (1)
- combined retinal dystrophy (1)
- community structure (1)
- comparative sequence analysis (1)
- competition (1)
- complication (1)
- compressed sensing (1)
- conservation (1)
- conservation biology (1)
- contact inhibition (1)
- conventional laparoscopic appendectomy (1)
- coprophagous beetles (1)
- coral reef ecosystem (1)
- coral reef resilience (1)
- cosmology (1)
- cost-effectiveness (1)
- crossing-over (1)
- cryo-electron microscopy (1)
- cryptochrome (1)
- cryptochrome/photolyase family (1)
- crystallization (1)
- deadwood (1)
- deadwood enrichment (1)
- decentralized control (1)
- decision-making (1)
- decomposition (1)
- deep learning (1)
- defoliation severity (1)
- desiccation resistance (1)
- diet breadth (1)
- distance-decay function (1)
- distance‐based specialization index (1)
- disturbance extent (1)
- disturbance severity (1)
- diversity (1)
- diversity gradients (1)
- diversity–disturbance relationship (1)
- dorsal clock neurons (1)
- drug resistance (1)
- dung beetle (1)
- ecology (1)
- ecosystem functioning (1)
- ecosystem service (1)
- electron tomography (1)
- elevation (1)
- elevation gradient (1)
- elevational diversity patterns (1)
- elevational gradient (1)
- emergent gravity (1)
- energy restriction (1)
- entomology (1)
- environmental monitoring (1)
- epidemiology (1)
- epitope prediction (1)
- estrogens (1)
- evolutionary arms race (1)
- ex vivo (1)
- experiment (1)
- feeding (1)
- flight control (1)
- floral larceny (1)
- flower morphology (1)
- flower visitors (1)
- flowering grassland plants (1)
- fluoxetine (1)
- fly pollination (1)
- flybow (1)
- food safety (1)
- forage resources (1)
- foragers (1)
- forest (1)
- forest communities (1)
- forest conservation (1)
- forest conversion (1)
- forest proximity (1)
- fusion (1)
- gefitinib (1)
- gene expression (1)
- gene expression networks (1)
- gene regulation (1)
- geriatric (1)
- global change (1)
- global warming (1)
- glucose restriction (1)
- glycolytic flux control (1)
- grassland (1)
- guard cell (1)
- guild constancy (1)
- gypsy moth (1)
- habitat types (1)
- halophyte (1)
- hand pollination (1)
- hawkmoth (1)
- health effects (1)
- hearing impairment (1)
- helicase (1)
- hemibrain (1)
- hemolysin (1)
- hepatotoxicity (1)
- herbivores (1)
- heterochromatin (1)
- high-pressure freezing (1)
- hill numbers (1)
- hippocampal mossy fiber bouton (1)
- histones (1)
- honeybee (1)
- honeybees (1)
- host discrimination (1)
- host selection (1)
- human breast (1)
- human skin (1)
- humane mesenchymale Stammzellen (1)
- hymenoptera (1)
- immune-informatics (1)
- immunohistochemistry (1)
- in vitro (1)
- in vivo (1)
- inclusion of nature in one’s self (1)
- indicator species (1)
- individual‐based model (1)
- indoor dust (1)
- induced pluripotent stem cells (1)
- induction (1)
- insect (1)
- insect brain (1)
- insect communities (1)
- insect decline (1)
- insect disturbance (1)
- insect-fungus symbiosis (1)
- insecticidal knockdown (1)
- interaction networks (1)
- intermediate disturbance hypothesis (1)
- intermediate host (1)
- inter‐tegular distance (1)
- intestinal control (1)
- intra-annual time-series (1)
- intrinsic metabolism (1)
- invasion (1)
- ion channel (1)
- juvenile hormone (1)
- kinetin (1)
- kisspeptin/galanin/spexin signalling (1)
- landmark (1)
- landmark panorama (1)
- landscape diversity (1)
- landscape ecology (1)
- larval and pupal development (1)
- learning (1)
- learning and memory (1)
- left hemicolectomy (1)
- lepidoptera (1)
- leptomeningeal cells (1)
- life-history traits (1)
- light-gated proteins (1)
- light‐gated (1)
- liposome (1)
- liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (1)
- local adaptation (1)
- local cues (1)
- localization microscopy (1)
- long non-coding RNA (1)
- long-term outcome (1)
- low carb (1)
- low-grade mucinous neoplasm (1)
- luciferase (1)
- lung cancer (1)
- lymphotoxicity (1)
- magnetic compass (1)
- major environmental values (1)
- mammalian system (1)
- mean annual temperature (1)
- membrane potential (1)
- meningeal blood-csf barrier (1)
- metabolic network model (1)
- metabolism and growth (1)
- metabolomics (1)
- metagenomics (1)
- metapopulation (1)
- metastasis (1)
- metastasis-directed therapy (1)
- methionine (1)
- methionine restriction (1)
- microbiomes (1)
- microscopy (1)
- migration (1)
- molecular docking (1)
- molecular mobility (1)
- monoclonal antibodies (1)
- monoklonale Antikörper (1)
- mortality (1)
- mountain ecology (1)
- mountain ecosystems (1)
- multiple linear regression (1)
- nanoarchitecture (1)
- nanocellulose (1)
- nanoparticle (1)
- nanotoxicology (1)
- natural pest control (1)
- naturalistic stimuli (1)
- nature conservation (1)
- nectar macronutrients (1)
- neisseria meningitidis (1)
- neophyte trees (1)
- nest site selection (1)
- nesting (1)
- network analysis (1)
- neural coding (1)
- neuraminidase (1)
- neuroblastoma – diagnosis (1)
- neuropeptide signalling (1)
- neuropeptides (1)
- niche (1)
- nitrogen uptake (1)
- non-sense mutations (1)
- northern Tanzania (1)
- nucleic acid motifs (1)
- nucleolus (1)
- nucleosomes (1)
- nurse bees (1)
- octogenerians (1)
- octopamine receptors (1)
- oilseed rape (1)
- oligorecurrence (1)
- olive (1)
- omics (1)
- oogenesis (1)
- optic flow (1)
- orientation (1)
- origin (1)
- orthopoxvirus (1)
- outcome (1)
- ovarian cancer (1)
- overfishing (1)
- oxidative stress (1)
- p53 (1)
- paleoecology (1)
- palynology (1)
- pancreatic cancer (1)
- pangolin (1)
- panorama (1)
- parthenogenesis (1)
- partial least square regression (1)
- particulate matter (1)
- path integration (1)
- pediatric (1)
- perfusion culture (1)
- peritoneal metastasis (1)
- pest control (1)
- phage (1)
- phase transition (1)
- phenotype (1)
- pheromone trail (1)
- philanthidae (1)
- phlorizin (1)
- phosphoglycolate phosphatase (1)
- photolyase (1)
- phototropin (1)
- phytohormones (1)
- plant guilds (1)
- plant richness (1)
- plant system (1)
- plant–insect interactions (1)
- plant–pollinator interactions (1)
- polar ion transport (1)
- pollen (1)
- pollen nutrients (1)
- pollination network (1)
- pollination services (1)
- pollinator (1)
- pollinator decline (1)
- pollinator diversity (1)
- positive selection (1)
- postoperative inflammation (1)
- poxvirus (1)
- predictive modeling (1)
- presynaptic (1)
- presynaptic homeostasis (1)
- pristine forests (1)
- progeria (1)
- proliferation (1)
- prostate cancer (1)
- protein chip (1)
- prototheca (1)
- proximity labeling (1)
- proximity ligation (1)
- qubit (1)
- quinoa (1)
- radial (1)
- radiotherapy (1)
- range limits (1)
- recreation (1)
- remote sensing (1)
- replication stress (1)
- reproductive toxicity (1)
- resource selection (1)
- ribosome (1)
- robotic surgery (1)
- rove beetle (1)
- sFLIM (1)
- salt tolerance (1)
- salvage radiotherapy (1)
- saproxylic (1)
- saproxylic beetles (1)
- secondary structure (1)
- semantic segmentation (1)
- sex chromosomes (1)
- sex linked pigmentation pattern (1)
- sex pheromones (1)
- sex-determining genes. (1)
- sexual antagonistic genes (1)
- sexual development dysgenesis (1)
- sexual dimorphism (1)
- shade cover (1)
- single-electron transistors (1)
- single-port appendectomy (1)
- sleep (1)
- sleep/activity (1)
- smallholder agriculture (1)
- solitary bees (1)
- sown flower field age and size (1)
- space-for-time approach (1)
- spatial scales (1)
- spatially structured population (1)
- species community composition (1)
- species richness (1)
- species-energy-theory (1)
- spiders (1)
- squamous tumors (1)
- stalk cell (1)
- stem cells (1)
- stemness (1)
- stress (1)
- structure prediction (1)
- study design (1)
- sun exposure (1)
- super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (1)
- surgery (1)
- surgical site infection (1)
- swarming (1)
- synaptic proteins (1)
- synaptic ultrastructure (1)
- synaptische Proteine (1)
- targeted combination therapy (1)
- task allocation (1)
- temperate forests (1)
- temperature (1)
- temperature gradient (1)
- temporal range (1)
- testosterone (1)
- therapy (1)
- threshold indicator taxa analysis (1)
- trans-tango (1)
- transcriptional control (1)
- transcriptome (1)
- transcriptomes (1)
- transcriptomic response (1)
- transmission (1)
- transportome (1)
- trans‐Tango (1)
- trap selectivity (1)
- tree species (1)
- triglycerides (1)
- tropical ecology (1)
- undernourishment (1)
- undersampling (1)
- unified theories (1)
- urban (1)
- urban ecology (1)
- variable regions (1)
- variations in genome (1)
- vemurafenib (1)
- vertical stratification (1)
- virtual docking (1)
- virulence (1)
- vision (1)
- volume (1)
- volume regulation (1)
- water (1)
- well-being (1)
- wild honeybees (1)
- woodinhabiting-fungi (1)
- wound (1)
- wound infection (1)
- zinc oxid (1)
- zygomorphy (1)
- ΔNp63 (1)
- α‐diversity (1)
- β‐diversity (1)
Institute
- Theodor-Boveri-Institut für Biowissenschaften (131) (remove)
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen
- Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (1)
- Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (1)
- Institut für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie (1)
- Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (1)
- Mildred-Scheel-Nachwuchszentrum (1)
- Technische Universität Dresden (1)
- Technische Universität München (1)
- Universität Bayreuth (1)
- Universität Duisburg-Essen, Institut für Molekularbiologie, AG Becker-Flegler (1)
- Universität Göttingen (1)
EU-Project number / Contract (GA) number
- 695376 (1)
- 835102) (1)
- ERC-2018-ADG/NCI-CAD (1)
In recent decades, our planet has undergone dramatic environmental changes resulting in the loss of numerous species. This contrasts with species that can adapt quickly to rapidly changing ambient conditions, which require physiological plasticity and must occur rapidly. The Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) apparently meets this challenge with remarkable success, as this species is adapted to numerous climates, resulting in an almost worldwide distribution. Here, coordinated individual thermoregulatory activities ensure survival at the colony level and thus the transmission of genetic material. Recently, we showed that shivering thermogenesis, which is critical for honeybee thermoregulation, depends on octopamine signaling. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the thoracic neuro-muscular octopaminergic system strives for a steady-state equilibrium under cold stress to maintain endogenous thermogenesis. We can show that this applies for both, octopamine provision by flight muscle innervating neurons and octopamine receptor expression in the flight muscles. Additionally, we discovered alternative splicing for AmOARβ2. At least the expression of one isoform is needed to survive cold stress conditions. We assume that the thoracic neuro-muscular octopaminergic system is finely tuned in order to contribute decisively to survival in a changing environment.
Monarch butterflies rely on external cues for orientation during their annual long-distance migration from Northern US and Canada to Central Mexico. These external cues can be celestial cues, such as the sun or polarized light, which are processed in a brain region termed the central complex (CX). Previous research typically focused on how individual simulated celestial cues are encoded in the butterfly's CX. However, in nature, the butterflies perceive several celestial cues at the same time and need to integrate them to effectively use the compound of all cues for orientation. In addition, a recent behavioral study revealed that monarch butterflies can rely on terrestrial cues, such as the panoramic skyline, for orientation and use them in combination with the sun to maintain a directed flight course. How the CX encodes a combination of celestial and terrestrial cues and how they are weighted in the butterfly's CX is still unknown. Here, we examined how input neurons of the CX, termed TL neurons, combine celestial and terrestrial information. While recording intracellularly from the neurons, we presented a sun stimulus and polarized light to the butterflies as well as a simulated sun and a panoramic scene simultaneously. Our results show that celestial cues are integrated linearly in these cells, while the combination of the sun and a panoramic skyline did not always follow a linear integration of action potential rates. Interestingly, while the sun and polarized light were invariantly weighted between individual neurons, the sun stimulus and panoramic skyline were dynamically weighted when both stimuli were simultaneously presented. Taken together, this dynamic weighting between celestial and terrestrial cues may allow the butterflies to flexibly set their cue preference during navigation.
1. Pollination services of cacao are crucial for global chocolate production, yet remain critically understudied, particularly in regions of origin of the species. Notably, uncertainties remain concerning the identity of cacao pollinators, the influence of landscape (forest distance) and management (shade cover) on flower visitation and the role of pollen deposition in limiting fruit set.
2. Here, we aimed to improve understanding of cacao pollination by studying limiting factors of fruit set in Peru, part of the centre of origin of cacao. Flower visitors were sampled with sticky insect glue in 20 cacao agroforests in two biogeographically distinct regions of Peru, across gradients of shade cover and forest distance. Further, we assessed pollen quantities and compared fruit set between naturally and manually pollinated flowers.
3. The most abundant flower visitors were aphids, ants and thrips in the north and thrips, midges and parasitoid wasps in the south of Peru. We present some evidence of increasing visitation rates from medium to high shade (40%–95% canopy closure) in the dry north, and opposite patterns in the semi-humid south, during the wet season.
4. Natural pollination resulted in remarkably low fruit set rates (2%), and very low pollen deposition. After hand pollination, fruit set more than tripled (7%), but was still low.
5. The diversity and high relative abundances of herbivore flower visitors limit our ability to draw conclusions on the functional role of different flower visitors. The remarkably low fruit set of naturally and even hand pollinated flowers indicates that other unaddressed factors limit cacao fruit production. Such factors could be, amongst others, a lack of effective pollinators, genetic incompatibility or resource limitation. Revealing efficient pollinator species and other causes of low fruit set rates is therefore key to establish location-specific management strategies and develop high yielding native cacao agroforestry systems in regions of origin of cacao
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Olea europaea L. Cv. Arbequina (OEA) (Oleaceae) is an olive variety species that has received little attention. Besides our previous work for the chemical profiling of OEA leaves using LC–HRESIMS, an additional 23 compounds are identified. An excision wound model is used to measure wound healing action. Wounds are provided with OEA (2% w/v) or MEBO\(^®\) cream (marketed treatment). The wound closure rate related to vehicle-treated wounds is significantly increased by OEA. Comparing to vehicle wound tissues, significant levels of TGF-β in OEA and MEBO\(^®\) (p < 0.05) are displayed by gene expression patterns, with the most significant levels in OEA-treated wounds. Proinflammatory TNF-α and IL-1β levels are substantially reduced in OEA-treated wounds. The capability of several lignan-related compounds to interact with MMP-1 is revealed by extensive in silico investigation of the major OEA compounds (i.e., inverse docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and ΔG calculation), and their role in the wound-healing process is also characterized. The potential of OEA as a potent MMP-1 inhibitor is shown in subsequent in vitro testing (IC\(_{50}\) = 88.0 ± 0.1 nM). In conclusion, OEA is introduced as an interesting therapeutic candidate that can effectively manage wound healing because of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Simple Summary
Patients, who suffer from oligorecurrent prostate cancer with limited nodal involvement, may be offered positron emission tomography (PET)-directed salvage nodal radiotherapy to delay disease progression. This current analysis aimed to access salvage radiotherapy for nodal oligorecurrent prostate cancer with simultaneous integrated boost to PET-involved lymph nodes as metastasis-directed therapy. A long-term oncological outcome was favorable after salvage nodal radiotherapy and severe toxicity rates were low. Androgen deprivation therapy plays a major role in recurrent prostate cancer management and demonstrates a positive influence on the rate of biochemical progression in patients receiving salvage nodal radiotherapy. The present long-term analysis may help clinicians identify patients who would benefit from salvage nodal radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy, as a multimodal treatment strategy for oligorecurrent prostate cancer.
Abstract
Background: The study aimed to access the long-term outcome of salvage nodal radiotherapy (SNRT) in oligorecurrent prostate cancer. Methods: A total of 95 consecutive patients received SNRT for pelvic and/or extrapelvic nodal recurrence after prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) or choline PET from 2010 to 2021. SNRT was applied as external beam radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost up to a median total dose of 62.9 Gy (EQD2\(_{1.5Gy}\)) to the recurrent lymph node metastases. The outcome was analyzed by cumulative incidence functions with death as the competing risk. Fine–Gray regression analyses were performed to estimate the relative hazards of the outcome parameters. Genitourinary (GU)/gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity evaluation utilized Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events (v5.0). The results are as follows: the median follow-up was 47.1 months. The five-year biochemical progression rate (95% CI) was 50.1% (35.7–62.9%). Concomitant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was adminstered in 60.0% of the patients. The five-year biochemical progression rate was 75.0% (42.0–90.9%) without ADT versus 35.3% (19.6–51.4%) with ADT (p = 0.003). The cumulative five-year late grade 3 GU toxicity rate was 2.1%. No late grade 3 GI toxicity occured. Conclusions: Metastasis-directed therapy through SNRT for PET-staged oligorecurrent prostate cancer demonstrated a favorable long-term oncologic outcome. Omittance of ADT led to an increased biochemical progression.
A fine balance of regulatory (T\(_{reg}\)) and conventional CD4\(^+\) T cells (T\(_{conv}\)) is required to prevent harmful immune responses, while at the same time ensuring the development of protective immunity against pathogens. As for many cellular processes, sphingolipid metabolism also crucially modulates the T\(_{reg}\)/T\(_{conv}\) balance. However, our understanding of how sphingolipid metabolism is involved in T cell biology is still evolving and a better characterization of the tools at hand is required to advance the field. Therefore, we established a reductionist liposomal membrane model system to imitate the plasma membrane of mouse T\(_{reg}\) and T\(_{conv}\) with regards to their ceramide content. We found that the capacity of membranes to incorporate externally added azide-functionalized ceramide positively correlated with the ceramide content of the liposomes. Moreover, we studied the impact of the different liposomal preparations on primary mouse splenocytes in vitro. The addition of liposomes to resting, but not activated, splenocytes maintained viability with liposomes containing high amounts of C\(_{16}\)-ceramide being most efficient. Our data thus suggest that differences in ceramide post-incorporation into T\(_{reg}\) and T\(_{conv}\) reflect differences in the ceramide content of cellular membranes.
Indoor house dust is a blend of organic and inorganic materials, upon which diverse microbial communities such as viruses, bacteria and fungi reside. Adequate moisture in the indoor environment helps microbial communities multiply fast. The outdoor air and materials that are brought into the buildings by airflow, sandstorms, animals pets and house occupants endow the indoor dust particles with extra features that impact human health. Assessment of the health effects of indoor dust particles, the type of indoor microbial inoculants and the secreted enzymes by indoor insects as allergens merit detailed investigation. Here, we discuss the applications of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology which is used to assess microbial diversity and abundance of the indoor dust environments. Likewise, the applications of NGS are discussed to monitor the gene expression profiles of indoor human occupants or their surrogate cellular models when exposed to aqueous solution of collected indoor dust samples. We also highlight the detection methods of dust allergens and analytical procedures that quantify the chemical nature of indoor particulate matter with a potential impact on human health. Our review is thus unique in advocating the applications of interdisciplinary approaches that comprehensively assess the health effects due to bad air quality in built environments.
An epidemic of avian type H7N9 influenza virus, which took place in China in 2013, was enhanced by a naturally occurring R294K mutation resistant against Oseltamivir at the catalytic site of the neuraminidase. To cope with such drug-resistant neuraminidase mutations, we applied the molecular docking technique to evaluate the fitness of the available drugs such as Oseltamivir, Zanamivir, Peramivir, Laninamivir, L-Arginine and Benserazide hydrochloride concerning the N9 enzyme with single (R294K, R119K, R372K), double (R119_294K, R119_372K, R294_372K) and triple (R119_294_372K) mutations in the pocket. We found that the drugs Peramivir and Zanamivir score best amongst the studied compounds, demonstrating their high binding potential towards the pockets with the considered mutations. Despite the fact that mutations changed the shape of the pocket and reduced the binding strength for all drugs, Peramivir was the only drug that formed interactions with the key residues at positions 119, 294 and 372 in the pocket of the triple N9 mutant, while Zanamivir demonstrated the lowest RMSD value (0.7 Å) with respect to the reference structure.
All forms of restriction, from caloric to amino acid to glucose restriction, have been established in recent years as therapeutic options for various diseases, including cancer. However, usually there is no direct comparison between the different restriction forms. Additionally, many cell culture experiments take place under static conditions. In this work, we used a closed perfusion culture in murine L929 cells over a period of 7 days to compare methionine restriction (MetR) and glucose restriction (LowCarb) in the same system and analysed the metabolome by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). In addition, we analysed the inhibition of glycolysis by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) over a period of 72 h. 2-DG induced very fast a low-energy situation by a reduced glycolysis metabolite flow rate resulting in pyruvate, lactate, and ATP depletion. Under perfusion culture, both MetR and LowCarb were established on the metabolic level. Interestingly, over the period of 7 days, the metabolome of MetR and LowCarb showed more similarities than differences. This leads to the conclusion that the conditioned medium, in addition to the different restriction forms, substantially reprogramm the cells on the metabolic level.
After the recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, unanswered questions remain related to its evolutionary history, path of transmission or divergence and role of recombination. There is emerging evidence on amino acid substitutions occurring in key residues of the receptor-binding domain of the spike glycoprotein in coronavirus isolates from bat and pangolins. In this article, we summarize our current knowledge on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. We also analyze the host ACE2-interacting residues of the receptor-binding domain of spike glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2 isolates from bats, and compare it to pangolin SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from Guangdong province (GD Pangolin-CoV) and Guangxi autonomous regions (GX Pangolin-CoV) of South China. Based on our comparative analysis, we support the view that the Guangdong Pangolins are the intermediate hosts that adapted the SARS-CoV-2 and represented a significant evolutionary link in the path of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We also discuss the role of intermediate hosts in the origin of Omicron.
Spatiotemporal Fusion Modelling Using STARFM: Examples of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 NDVI in Bavaria
(2022)
The increasing availability and variety of global satellite products provide a new level of data with different spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions; however, identifying the most suited resolution for a specific application consumes increasingly more time and computation effort. The region’s cloud coverage additionally influences the choice of the best trade-off between spatial and temporal resolution, and different pixel sizes of remote sensing (RS) data may hinder the accurate monitoring of different land cover (LC) classes such as agriculture, forest, grassland, water, urban, and natural-seminatural. To investigate the importance of RS data for these LC classes, the present study fuses NDVIs of two high spatial resolution data (high pair) (Landsat (30 m, 16 days; L) and Sentinel-2 (10 m, 5–6 days; S), with four low spatial resolution data (low pair) (MOD13Q1 (250 m, 16 days), MCD43A4 (500 m, one day), MOD09GQ (250 m, one-day), and MOD09Q1 (250 m, eight day)) using the spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model (STARFM), which fills regions’ cloud or shadow gaps without losing spatial information. These eight synthetic NDVI STARFM products (2: high pair multiply 4: low pair) offer a spatial resolution of 10 or 30 m and temporal resolution of 1, 8, or 16 days for the entire state of Bavaria (Germany) in 2019. Due to their higher revisit frequency and more cloud and shadow-free scenes (S = 13, L = 9), Sentinel-2 (overall R\(^2\) = 0.71, and RMSE = 0.11) synthetic NDVI products provide more accurate results than Landsat (overall R\(^2\) = 0.61, and RMSE = 0.13). Likewise, for the agriculture class, synthetic products obtained using Sentinel-2 resulted in higher accuracy than Landsat except for L-MOD13Q1 (R\(^2\) = 0.62, RMSE = 0.11), resulting in similar accuracy preciseness as S-MOD13Q1 (R\(^2\) = 0.68, RMSE = 0.13). Similarly, comparing L-MOD13Q1 (R\(^2\) = 0.60, RMSE = 0.05) and S-MOD13Q1 (R\(^2\) = 0.52, RMSE = 0.09) for the forest class, the former resulted in higher accuracy and precision than the latter. Conclusively, both L-MOD13Q1 and S-MOD13Q1 are suitable for agricultural and forest monitoring; however, the spatial resolution of 30 m and low storage capacity makes L-MOD13Q1 more prominent and faster than that of S-MOD13Q1 with the 10-m spatial resolution.
Contact to nature and greenspace is important for emotional well-being and can promote human health. Forest landscapes provide such access to greenspace, especially in protected areas. However, forested protected areas are impacted by natural disturbances such as bark beetle infestations. On the one hand, such disturbances have positive impacts on ecological processes and biodiversity. On the other hand, they have allegedly negative impacts on the recreational value of a landscape. Limited knowledge about the public’s perception of forests subject to natural disturbances still hampers forest management to balance ecological functions and visitors’ recreational experience. Thus, our aim was to determine how attitudes towards nature influence the personal well-being in a naturally disturbed landscape. We investigated self-reported well-being and attitudes towards nature in a standardized questionnaire-based survey of 1008 German inhabitants in an experimentally adapted landscape visualization. Self-reported well-being was generally highest in landscapes with relatively few bark-beetle-killed trees. This was especially the case for people who felt included with nature and preferred an appreciative use or preservation of nature. Conversely, people who had previously visited a national park with visible bark beetle infestations rated their personal well-being highest in landscapes with larger proportions of beetle-killed trees. Our results indicate that it is necessary to analyze people’s knowledge about and relations to forest landscapes as well as concepts of nature conservation, natural landscapes, and biodiversity to gain a better understanding of people’s perceptions of natural disturbances.
Overexpressed c-Myc sensitizes cells to TH1579, a mitotic arrest and oxidative DNA damage inducer
(2022)
Previously, we reported that MTH1 inhibitors TH588 and TH1579 selectively induce oxidative damage and kill Ras-expressing or -transforming cancer cells, as compared to non-transforming immortalized or primary cells. While this explains the impressive anti-cancer properties of the compounds, the molecular mechanism remains elusive. Several oncogenes induce replication stress, resulting in under replicated DNA and replication continuing into mitosis, where TH588 and TH1579 treatment causes toxicity and incorporation of oxidative damage. Hence, we hypothesized that oncogene-induced replication stress explains the cancer selectivity. To test this, we overexpressed c-Myc in human epithelial kidney cells (HA1EB), resulting in increased proliferation, polyploidy and replication stress. TH588 and TH1579 selectively kill c-Myc overexpressing clones, enforcing the cancer cell selective killing of these compounds. Moreover, the toxicity of TH588 and TH1579 in c-Myc overexpressing cells is rescued by transcription, proteasome or CDK1 inhibitors, but not by nucleoside supplementation. We conclude that the molecular toxicological mechanisms of how TH588 and TH1579 kill c-Myc overexpressing cells have several components and involve MTH1-independent proteasomal degradation of c-Myc itself, c-Myc-driven transcription and CDK activation.
The variable regions (V1–V9) of the 18S rDNA are routinely used in barcoding and phylogenetics. In handling these data for trypanosomes, we have noticed a misunderstanding that has apparently taken a life of its own in the literature over the years. In particular, in recent years, when studying the phylogenetic relationship of trypanosomes, the use of V7/V8 was systematically established. However, considering the current numbering system for all other organisms (including other Euglenozoa), V7/V8 was never used. In Maia da Silva et al. [Parasitology 2004, 129, 549–561], V7/V8 was promoted for the first time for trypanosome phylogenetics, and since then, more than 70 publications have replicated this nomenclature and even discussed the benefits of the use of this region in comparison to V4. However, the primers used to amplify the variable region of trypanosomes have actually amplified V4 (concerning the current 18S rDNA numbering system).
Though several previous studies reported the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant effect of kinetin (Kn), details on its action in cisplatin-induced toxicity are still scarce. In this study we evaluated, for the first time, the effects of kinetin in cisplatin (cp)- induced liver and lymphocyte toxicity in rats. Wistar male albino rats were divided into nine groups: (i) the control (C), (ii) groups 2,3 and 4, which received 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg kinetin for 10 days; (iii) the cisplatin (cp) group, which received a single intraperitoneal injection of CP (7.0 mg/kg); and (iv) groups 6, 7, 8 and 9, which received, for 10 days, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg kinetin or 200 mg/kg vitamin C, respectively, and Cp on the fourth day. CP-injected rats showed a significant impairment in biochemical, oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters in hepatic tissue and lymphocytes. PCR showed a profound increase in caspase-3, and a significant decline in AKT gene expression. Intriguingly, Kn treatment restored the biochemical, redox status and inflammatory parameters. Hepatic AKT and caspase-3 expression as well as CD95 levels in lymphocytes were also restored. In conclusion, Kn mitigated oxidative imbalance, inflammation and apoptosis in CP-induced liver and lymphocyte toxicity; therefore, it can be considered as a promising therapy.
Poxviruses are large DNA viruses with a linear double-stranded DNA genome circularized at the extremities. The helicase-primase D5, composed of six identical 90 kDa subunits, is required for DNA replication. D5 consists of a primase fragment flexibly attached to the hexameric C-terminal polypeptide (res. 323–785) with confirmed nucleotide hydrolase and DNA-binding activity but an elusive helicase activity. We determined its structure by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. It displays an AAA+ helicase core flanked by N- and C-terminal domains. Model building was greatly helped by the predicted structure of D5 using AlphaFold2. The 3.9 Å structure of the N-terminal domain forms a well-defined tight ring while the resolution decreases towards the C-terminus, still allowing the fit of the predicted structure. The N-terminal domain is partially present in papillomavirus E1 and polyomavirus LTA helicases, as well as in a bacteriophage NrS-1 helicase domain, which is also closely related to the AAA+ helicase domain of D5. Using the Pfam domain database, a D5_N domain followed by DUF5906 and Pox_D5 domains could be assigned to the cryo-EM structure, providing the first 3D structures for D5_N and Pox_D5 domains. The same domain organization has been identified in a family of putative helicases from large DNA viruses, bacteriophages, and selfish DNA elements.
SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the delta or omicron variants, with higher transmission rates, accelerated the global COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, novel therapeutic strategies need to be deployed. The inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), interfering with viral entry by fluoxetine was reported. Here, we described the acid ceramidase as an additional target of fluoxetine. To discover these effects, we synthesized an ASM-independent fluoxetine derivative, AKS466. High-resolution SARS-CoV-2–RNA FISH and RTqPCR analyses demonstrate that AKS466 down-regulates viral gene expression. It is shown that SARS-CoV-2 deacidifies the lysosomal pH using the ORF3 protein. However, treatment with AKS488 or fluoxetine lowers the lysosomal pH. Our biochemical results show that AKS466 localizes to the endo-lysosomal replication compartments of infected cells, and demonstrate the enrichment of the viral genomic, minus-stranded RNA and mRNAs there. Both fluoxetine and AKS466 inhibit the acid ceramidase activity, cause endo-lysosomal ceramide elevation, and interfere with viral replication. Furthermore, Ceranib-2, a specific acid ceramidase inhibitor, reduces SARS-CoV-2 replication and, most importantly, the exogenous supplementation of C6-ceramide interferes with viral replication. These results support the hypotheses that the acid ceramidase is a SARS-CoV-2 host factor.
Although much is known about the ecology and functional importance of canopy arthropods in temperate forests, few studies have tried to assess the overall diversity and investigate the composition and dynamics of tree-specific communities. This has impeded a deeper understanding of the functioning of forests, and of how to maintain system services. Here, we present the first comprehensive data of whole arthropod communities, collected by insecticidal knockdown (fogging) from 1159 trees in 18 study areas in Central Europe during the last 25 years. The data includes 3,253,591 arthropods from 32 taxa (order, suborder, family) collected on 24 tree species from 18 genera. Fogging collects free-living, ectophytic arthropods in approximately the same number as they occur in the trees. To our knowledge, these are the most comprehensive data available today on the taxonomic composition of arboreal fauna. Assigning all arthropods to their feeding guild provided a proxy of their functional importance. The data showed that the canopy communities were regularly structured, with a clear dominance hierarchy comprised of eight ‘major taxa’ that represented 87% of all arthropods. Despite significant differences in the proportions of taxa on deciduous and coniferous trees, the composition of the guilds was very similar. The individual tree genera, on the other hand, showed significant differences in guild composition, especially when different study areas and years were compared, whereas tree-specific traits, such as tree height, girth in breast height or leaf cover, explained little of the overall variance. On the ordinal level, guild composition also differed significantly between managed and primary forests, with a simultaneous low within-group variability, indicating that management is a key factor determining the distribution of biodiversity and guild composition.
Staphylococcus aureus asymptomatically colonizes the nasal cavity of mammals, but it is also a leading cause of life-threatening infections. Most human nasal isolates carry Sa3 phages, which integrate into the bacterial hlb gene encoding a sphingomyelinase. The virulence factor-encoding genes carried by the Sa3-phages are highly human-specific, and most animal strains are Sa3 negative. Thus, both insertion and excision of the prophage could potentially confer a fitness advantage to S. aureus. Here, we analyzed the phage life cycle of two Sa3 phages, Φ13 and ΦN315, in different phage-cured S. aureus strains. Based on phage transfer experiments, strains could be classified into low (8325-4, SH1000, and USA300c) and high (MW2c and Newman-c) transfer strains. High-transfer strains promoted the replication of phages, whereas phage adsorption, integration, excision, or recA transcription was not significantly different between strains. RNASeq analyses of replication-deficient lysogens revealed no strain-specific differences in the CI/Mor regulatory switch. However, lytic genes were significantly upregulated in the high transfer strain MW2c Φ13 compared to strain 8325-4 Φ13. By transcriptional start site prediction, new promoter regions within the lytic modules were identified, which are likely targeted by specific host factors. Such host-phage interaction probably accounts for the strain-specific differences in phage replication and transfer frequency. Thus, the genetic makeup of the host strains may determine the rate of phage mobilization, a feature that might impact the speed at which certain strains can achieve host adaptation.
Introduction
Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMN) are semi-malignant tumors of the appendix which are incidentally found in up to 1% of appendectomy specimen. To this day, no valid descriptive analysis on LAMN is available for the German population.
Methods
Data of LAMN (ICD-10: D37.3) were collected from the population-based cancer registries in Germany, provided by the German Center for Cancer Registry Data (Zentrum für Krebsregisterdaten—ZfKD). Data was anonymized and included gender, age at diagnosis, tumor staging according to the TNM-classification, state of residence, information on the performed therapy, and survival data.
Results
A total of 612 cases were reported to the ZfKD between 2011 and 2018. A total of 63.07% were female and 36.93% were male. Great inhomogeneity in reporting cases was seen in the federal states of Germany including the fact that some federal states did not report any cases at all. Age distribution showed a mean age of 62.03 years (SD 16.15) at diagnosis. However, data on tumor stage was only available in 24.86% of cases (n = 152). A total of 49.34% of these patients presented with a T4-stage. Likewise, information regarding performed therapy was available in the minority of patients: 269 patients received surgery, 22 did not and for 312 cases no information was available. Twenty-four patients received chemotherapy, 188 did not, and for 400 cases, no information was available. Overall 5-year survival was estimated at 79.52%. Patients below the age of 55 years at time of diagnosis had a significantly higher 5-year survival rate compared to patients above the age of 55 years (85.77% vs. 73.27%).
Discussion
In this study, we observed an incidence of LAMN in 0.13% of all appendectomy specimen in 2018. It seems likely that not all cases were reported to the ZfKD; therefore, case numbers may be considered underestimated. Age and gender distribution goes in line with international studies with females being predominantly affected. Especially regarding tumor stage and therapy in depth information cannot be provided through the ZfKD-database. This data analysis emphasizes the need for further studies and the need for setting up a specialized registry for this unique tumor entity to develop guidelines for the appropriate treatment and follow-up.
Purpose
In selected cases of severe Cushing’s syndrome due to uncontrolled ACTH secretion, bilateral adrenalectomy appears unavoidable. Compared with unilateral adrenalectomy (for adrenal Cushing’s syndrome), bilateral adrenalectomy has a perceived higher perioperative morbidity. The aim of the current study was to compare both interventions in endogenous Cushing’s syndrome regarding postoperative outcomes.
Methods
We report a single-center, retrospective cohort study comparing patients with hypercortisolism undergoing bilateral vs. unilateral adrenalectomy during 2008–2021. Patients with adrenal Cushing’s syndrome due to adenoma were compared with patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome (Cushing’s disease and ectopic ACTH production) focusing on postoperative morbidity and mortality as well as long-term survival.
Results
Of 83 patients with adrenalectomy for hypercortisolism (65.1% female, median age 53 years), the indication for adrenalectomy was due to adrenal Cushing’s syndrome in 60 patients (72.2%; 59 unilateral and one bilateral), and due to hypercortisolism caused by Cushing’s disease (n = 16) or non-pituitary uncontrolled ACTH secretion of unknown origin (n = 7) (27.7% of all adrenalectomies). Compared with unilateral adrenalectomy (n = 59), patients with bilateral adrenalectomy (n = 24) had a higher rate of severe complications (0% vs. 33%; p < 0.001) and delayed recovery (median: 10.2% vs. 79.2%; p < 0.001). Using the MTL30 marker, patients with bilateral adrenalectomy fared worse than patients after unilateral surgery (MTL30 positive: 7.2% vs. 25.0% p < 0.001). Postoperative mortality was increased in patients with bilateral adrenalectomy (0% vs. 8.3%; p = 0.081).
Conclusion
While unilateral adrenalectomy for adrenal Cushing’s syndrome represents a safe and definitive therapeutic option, bilateral adrenalectomy to control ACTH-dependent extra-adrenal Cushing’s syndrome or Cushing’s disease is a more complicated intervention with a mortality of nearly 10%.
(1) Background: The recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is mainly due to invasion of the surrounding brain tissue, where organic solutes, including glucose and inositol, are abundant. Invasive cell migration has been linked to the aberrant expression of transmembrane solute-linked carriers (SLC). Here, we explore the role of glucose (SLC5A1) and inositol transporters (SLC5A3) in GBM cell migration. (2) Methods: Using immunofluorescence microscopy, we visualized the subcellular localization of SLC5A1 and SLC5A3 in two highly motile human GBM cell lines. We also employed wound-healing assays to examine the effect of SLC inhibition on GBM cell migration and examined the chemotactic potential of inositol. (3) Results: While GBM cell migration was significantly increased by extracellular inositol and glucose, it was strongly impaired by SLC transporter inhibition. In the GBM cell monolayers, both SLCs were exclusively detected in the migrating cells at the monolayer edge. In single GBM cells, both transporters were primarily localized at the leading edge of the lamellipodium. Interestingly, in GBM cells migrating via blebbing, SLC5A1 and SLC5A3 were predominantly detected in nascent and mature blebs, respectively. (4) Conclusion: We provide several lines of evidence for the involvement of SLC5A1 and SLC5A3 in GBM cell migration, thereby complementing the migration-associated transportome. Our findings suggest that SLC inhibition is a promising approach to GBM treatment.
Leaf-cutting ants are highly successful herbivores in the Neotropics. They forage large amounts of fresh plant material to nourish a symbiotic fungus that sustains the colony. It is unknown how workers organize the intra-nest distribution of resources, and whether they respond to increasing demands in some fungus gardens by adjusting the amount of delivered resources accordingly. In laboratory experiments, we analyzed the spatial distribution of collected leaf fragments among nest chambers in Acromyrmex ambiguus leaf-cutting ants, and how it changed when one of the fungus gardens experienced undernourishment. Plant fragments were evenly distributed among nest chambers when the fungal symbiont was well nourished. That pattern changed when one of the fungus gardens was undernourished and had a higher leaf demand, resulting in more leaf discs delivered to the undernourished fungus garden over at least 2 days after deprivation. Some ants bypassed nourished gardens to directly deliver their resource to the chamber with higher nutritional demand. We hypothesize that cues arising from that chamber might be used for orientation and/or that informed individuals, presumably stemming from the undernourished chamber, may preferentially orient to them.
Higher temperatures can increase metabolic rates and carbon demands of invertebrate herbivores, which may shift leaf-chewing herbivory among plant functional groups differing in C:N (carbon:nitrogen) ratios. Biotic factors influencing herbivore species richness may modulate these temperature effects. Yet, systematic studies comparing leaf-chewing herbivory among plant functional groups in different habitats and landscapes along temperature gradients are lacking. This study was conducted on 80 plots covering large gradients of temperature, plant richness and land use in Bavaria, Germany. We investigated proportional leaf area loss by chewing invertebrates (‘herbivory’) in three plant functional groups on open herbaceous vegetation. As potential drivers, we considered local mean temperature (range 8.4–18.8 °C), multi-annual mean temperature (range 6.5–10.0 °C), local plant richness (species and family level, ranges 10–51 species, 5–25 families), adjacent habitat type (forest, grassland, arable field, settlement), proportion of grassland and landscape diversity (0.2–3 km scale). We observed differential responses of leaf-chewing herbivory among plant functional groups in response to plant richness (family level only) and habitat type, but not to grassland proportion, landscape diversity and temperature—except for multi-annual mean temperature influencing herbivory on grassland plots. Three-way interactions of plant functional group, temperature and predictors of plant richness or land use did not substantially impact herbivory. We conclude that abiotic and biotic factors can assert different effects on leaf-chewing herbivory among plant functional groups. At present, effects of plant richness and habitat type outweigh effects of temperature and landscape-scale land use on herbivory among legumes, forbs and grasses.
Government funding of research beyond biomedicine: challenges and opportunities for neuroethology
(2022)
Curiosity-driven research is fundamental for neuroethology and depends crucially on governmental funding. Here, we highlight similarities and differences in funding of curiosity-driven research across countries by comparing two major funding agencies—the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). We interviewed representatives from each of the two agencies, focusing on general funding trends, levels of young investigator support, career-life balance, and international collaborations. While our analysis revealed a negative trend in NSF funding of biological research, including curiosity-driven research, German researchers in these areas have benefited from a robust positive trend in DFG funding. The main reason for the decrease in curiosity-driven research in the US is that the NSF has only partially been able to compensate for the funding gap resulting from the National Institutes of Health restricting their support to biomedical research using select model organisms. Notwithstanding some differences in funding programs, particularly those relevant for scientists in the postdoctoral phase, both the NSF and DFG clearly support curiosity-driven research.
Unisexual reproduction, which generates clonal offspring, is an alternative strategy to sexual breeding and occurs even in vertebrates. A wide range of non-sexual reproductive modes have been described, and one of the least understood questions is how such pathways emerged and how they mechanistically proceed. The Amazon molly, Poecilia formosa, needs sperm from males of related species to trigger the parthenogenetic development of diploid eggs. However, the mechanism, of how the unreduced female gametes are produced, remains unclear. Cytological analyses revealed that the chromosomes of primary oocytes initiate pachytene but do not proceed to bivalent formation and meiotic crossovers. Comparing ovary transcriptomes of P. formosa and its sexual parental species revealed expression levels of meiosis-specific genes deviating from P. mexicana but not from P. latipinna. Furthermore, several meiosis genes show biased expression towards one of the two alleles from the parental genomes. We infer from our data that in the Amazon molly diploid oocytes are generated by apomixis due to a failure in the synapsis of homologous chromosomes. The fact that this failure is not reflected in the differential expression of known meiosis genes suggests the underlying molecular mechanism may be dysregulation on the protein level or misexpression of a so far unknown meiosis gene, and/or hybrid dysgenesis because of compromised interaction of proteins from diverged genomes.