Longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Kaliningrad region

Alekseev V. I. 2007. Longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Kaliningrad region. Acta Biol. Univ. Daugavp., 70 species of family Cerambycidae are reported for the territory of Kaliningrad region as result of faunistical researches carried in years 1989-2006. The literature data for the fauna and distribution of longhorn beetles in Baltic States, Poland and West Byelorussia are analyzed. The revised check list of cerambycid fauna for region (including potential inhabited taxa) was composed and contains 112 species. For each species abundance and frequency, geographical distribution in South-eastern Baltic region and also the host plants are given. The analysis of zoogeographical and phenological peculiarities of Cerambycidae of Kaliningrad region is presented

Glesirhanis bercioi, a new genus and species from Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Endomychidae: Leiestinae) with a checklist and nomenclatural notes regarding fossil Endomychidae

Shockley, Floyd W., Alekseev, Vitaly I. (2014): Glesirhanis bercioi, a new genus and species from Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Endomychidae: Leiestinae) with a checklist and nomenclatural notes regarding fossil Endomychidae. Zootaxa 3755 (4): 391-400, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3755.4.

A new species of Eupariini from Eocene Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae)

eISSN 1175-5334Based on 10 specimens from Late Eocene Baltic amber, an extinct species of Eupariini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), Airapus lithuanicus Tamutis, Alekseev, & Bukejs new species, is described and illustrated. The new species is compared with two known fossil representatives of Aphodiinae from Baltic amber. The generic placement of these two species, Saprosites succini (Zang, 1905) and Ataenius europaeus Quiel, 1910, is discussed, as are details of paleoecology for the new speciesKauno Tado Ivanausko zoologijos muziejusVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Dieneremia rueckeri, a new genus and species of minute brown scavenger beetle from Baltic amber, with notes on other fossil Latridiidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea)

Reike, Hans-Peter, Alekseev, Vitaly I., Bukejs, Andris (2013): Dieneremia rueckeri, a new genus and species of minute brown scavenger beetle from Baltic amber, with notes on other fossil Latridiidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea). Zootaxa 3686 (3): 381-388, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3686.3.

Nauji Larinus Turbinatus Gyllenhal, 1835 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) registravimo įrašai rytų Baltijos regione

Straubliukas Larinus turbinatus Gyllenhal, 1835 pirmą kartą buvo aptiktas Estijoje, Lietuvoje ir Kaliningrado srityje (vakarų Rusija). Pateikiama bendra informacija apie šios rūšies paplitimą ir bionomiją, taip pat bendra ir straublio nuotraukosThe weevil Larinus turbinatus Gyllenhal, 1835 is mentioned from Estonia, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Region (western Russia) for the first time. General information on its distribution and bionomy, and photos of habitus and rostrum of this species are presentedVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Crystal structure of a light-driven sodium pump.

International audienc

The voltage dependent sidedness of the reprotonation of the retinal schiff base determines the unique inward pumping of xenorhodopsin

The new class of microbial rhodopsins, called xenorhodopsins (XeRs),[1] extends the versatility of this family by inward H+ pumps.[2–4] These pumps are an alternative optogenetic tool to the light-gated ion channels (e.g. ChR1,2), because the activation of electrically excitable cells by XeRs is independent from the surrounding physiological conditions. In this work we functionally and spectroscopically characterized XeR from Nanosalina (NsXeR).[1] The photodynamic behavior of NsXeR was investigated on the ps to s time scale elucidating the formation of the J and K and a previously unknown long-lived intermediate. The pH dependent kinetics reveal that alkalization of the surrounding medium accelerates the photocycle and the pump turnover. In patch-clamp experiments the blue-light illumination of NsXeR in the M state shows a potential-dependent vectoriality of the photocurrent transients, suggesting a variable accessibility of reprotonation of the retinal Schiff base. Insights on the kinetically independent switching mechanism could furthermore be obtained by mutational studies on the putative intracellular H+ acceptor D220

Inward H+^+ pump xenorhodopsin: Mechanism and alternative optogenetic approach

International audienceGeneration of an electrochemical proton gradient is the first step of cell bioenergetics. In prokaryotes, the gradient is created by outward membrane protein proton pumps. Inward plasma membrane native proton pumps are yet unknown. We describe comprehensive functional studies of the representatives of the yet noncharacterized xenorhodopsins from Nanohaloarchaea family of microbial rhodopsins. They are inward proton pumps as we demonstrate in model membrane systems, $Escherichia\ coli$ cells, human embryonic kidney cells, neuroblastoma cells, and rat hippocampal neuronal cells. We also solved the structure of a xenorhodopsin from the nanohalosarchaeon $Nanosalina$ (NsXeR) and suggest a mechanism of inward proton pumping. We demonstrate that the NsXeR is a powerful pump, which is able to elicit action potentials in rat hippocampal neuronal cells up to their maximal intrinsic firing frequency. Hence, inwardly directed proton pumps are suitable for light-induced remote control of neurons, and they are an alternative to the well-known cation-selective channelrhodopsins