Novel role for the innate immune receptor toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the regulation of the wnt signaling pathway and photoreceptor apoptosis

Recent evidence has implicated innate immunity in regulating neuronal survival in the brain during stroke and other neurodegenerations. Photoreceptors are specialized light-detecting neurons in the retina that are essential for vision. In this study, we investigated the role of the innate immunity receptor TLR4 in photoreceptors. TLR4 activation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) significantly reduced the survival of cultured mouse photoreceptors exposed to oxidative stress. With respect to mechanism, TLR4 suppressed Wnt signaling, decreased phosphorylation and activation of the Wnt receptor LRP6, and blocked the protective effect of the Wnt3a ligand. Paradoxically, TLR4 activation prior to oxidative injury protected photoreceptors, in a phenomenon known as preconditioning. Expression of TNFα and its receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2 decreased during preconditioning, and preconditioning was mimicked by TNFα antagonists, but was independent of Wnt signaling. Therefore, TLR4 is a novel regulator of photoreceptor survival that acts through the Wnt and TNFα pathways. © 2012 Yi et al

Water velocity limits the temporal extent of herbivore effects on aquatic plants in a lowland river

The role of herbivores in regulating aquatic plant dynamics has received growing recognition from researchers and managers. However, the evidence for herbivore impacts on aquatic plants is largely based on short-term exclosure studies conducted within a single plant growing season. Thus, it is unclear how long herbivore impacts on aquatic plant abundance can persist for. We addressed this knowledge gap by testing whether mute swan (Cygnus olor) grazing on lowland river macrophytes could be detected in the following growing season. Furthermore, we investigated the role of seasonal changes in water current speed in limiting the temporal extent of grazing. We found no relationship between swan biomass density in 1 year and aquatic plant cover or biomass in the following spring. No such carry-over effects were detected despite observing high swan biomass densities in the previous year from which we inferred grazing impacts on macrophytes. Seasonal increases in water velocity were associated with reduced grazing pressure as swans abandoned river habitat. Furthermore, our study highlights the role of seasonal changes in water velocity in determining the length of the mute swan grazing season in shallow lowland rivers and thus in limiting the temporal extent of herbivore impacts on aquatic plant abundance

Experimental Assessment of the Water Quality Influence on the Phosphorus Uptake of an Invasive Aquatic Plant: Biological Responses throughout Its Phenological Stage

International audienceUnderstanding how an invasive plant can colonize a large range of environments is still a great challenge in freshwater ecology. For the first time, we assessed the relative importance of four factors on the phosphorus uptake and growth of an invasive macrophyte Elodea nuttallii (Planch.) St. John. This study provided data on its phenotypic plasticity, which is frequently suggested as an important mechanism but remains poorly investigated. The phosphorus uptake of two Elodea nuttallii subpopulations was experimentally studied under contrasting environmental conditions. Plants were sampled in the Rhine floodplain and in the Northern Vosges mountains, and then maintained in aquaria in hard (Rhine) or soft (Vosges) water. Under these conditions, we tested the influence of two trophic states (eutrophic state, 100 mu g.l(-1) P-PO43- and hypertrophic state, 300 mu g.l(-1) P-PO43-) on the P metabolism of plant subpopulations collected at three seasons (winter, spring and summer). Elodea nuttallii was able to absorb high levels of phosphorus through its shoots and enhance its phosphorus uptake, continually, after an increase of the resource availability (hypertrophic > eutrophic). The lowest efficiency in nutrient use was observed in winter, whereas the highest was recorded in spring, what revealed thus a storage strategy which can be beneficial to new shoots. This experiment provided evidence that generally, the water trophic state is the main factor governing P uptake, and the mineral status (softwater > hardwater) of the stream water is the second main factor. The phenological stage appeared to be a confounding factor to P level in water. Nonetheless, phenology played a role in P turnover in the plant. Finally, phenotypic plasticity allows both subpopulations to adapt to a changing environment

Safe, stable, nurturing relationships break the intergenerational cycle of abuse: a prospective nationally representative cohort of children in the United Kingdom.

PURPOSE: To identify contextual and interpersonal factors that distinguish families in which the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment is maintained from families in which the cycle is broken. METHODS: The sample was composed of 1,116 families in the United Kingdom who participated in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study. We assessed mother's childhood history of maltreatment retrospectively with a validated and reliable interview. Prospective reports of children's physical maltreatment were collected repeatedly up to 12 years. We compared families in which mothers but not children had experienced maltreatment with families in which both mothers and children had experienced maltreatment, and with families without maltreatment, on a range of contextual and interpersonal factors known to affect child development. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, supportive and trusting relationships with intimate partners, high levels of maternal warmth toward children, and low levels of partner violence between adults distinguished families in which mothers but not children experienced maltreatment from families in which mothers and children experienced maltreatment. Families in which only mothers experienced maltreatment were largely similar to families in which neither generation experienced maltreatment, except that mothers belonging to the former group were more likely to have a lifetime history of depression and low levels of social support. CONCLUSIONS: Safe, stable, nurturing relationships between intimate partners and between mothers and children are associated with breaking the cycle of abuse in families. Additional research is needed to determine whether these factors have a causal role in preventing the transmission of maltreatment from one generation to the next

Understanding plant community responses to combinations of biotic and abiotic factors in different phases of the plant growth cycle

Understanding plant community responses to combinations of biotic and abiotic factors is critical for predicting ecosystem response to environmental change. However, studies of plant community regulation have seldom considered how responses to such factors vary with the different phases of the plant growth cycle. To address this deficit we studied an aquatic plant community in an ecosystem subject to gradients in mute swan (Cygnus olor) herbivory, riparian shading, water temperature and distance downstream of the river source. We quantified abundance, species richness, evenness, flowering and dominance in relation to biotic and abiotic factors during the growth-, peak-, and recession-phases of the plant growth cycle. We show that the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors varied between plant community properties and between different phases of the plant growth cycle. Herbivory became more important during the later phases of peak abundance and recession due to an influx of swans from adjacent pasture fields. Shading by riparian vegetation also had a greater depressing effect on biomass in later seasons, probably due to increased leaf abundance reducing light intensity reaching the aquatic plants. The effect of temperature on community diversity varied between upstream and downstream sites by altering the relative competitiveness of species at these sites. These results highlight the importance of seasonal patterns in the regulation of plant community structure and function by multiple factors