Salinity Measurements Collected by Fishermen Reveal a “River in the Sea” Flowing Along the Eastern Coast of India

Being the only tropical ocean bounded by a continent to the north, the Indian Ocean is home to the most powerful monsoon system on Earth. Monsoonal rains and winds induce huge river discharges and strong coastal currents in the northern Bay of Bengal. To date, the paucity of salinity data has prevented a thorough description of the spreading of this freshwater into the bay. The potential impact of the salinity on cyclones and regional climate in the Bay of Bengal is, however, a strong incentive for a better description of the water cycle in this region. Since May 2005, the National Institute of Oceanography conducts a program in which fishermen collect seawater samples in knee-deep water at eight stations along the Indian coastline every 5 days. Comparison with open-ocean samples shows that this cost-effective sampling strategy is representative of offshore salinity evolution. This new dataset reveals a salinity drop exceeding 10 g kg−1 in the northern part of the bay at the end of the summer monsoon. This freshening signal propagates southward in a narrow (~100 km wide) strip along the eastern coast of India, and reaches its southern tip after 2.5 months. Satellite-derived alongshore-current data shows that the southward propagation of this “river in the sea” is consistent with transport by seasonal coastal currents, while other processes are responsible for the ensuing erosion of this coastal freshening. This simple procedure of coastal seawater samples collection could further be used to monitor phytoplankton concentration, bacterial content, and isotopic composition of seawater along the Indian coastlin

Mechanism of Disruption of the Amt-GlnK Complex by PII-Mediated Sensing of 2-Oxoglutarate

GlnK proteins regulate the active uptake of ammonium by Amt transport proteins by inserting their regulatory T-loops into the transport channels of the Amt trimer and physically blocking substrate passage. They sense the cellular nitrogen status through 2-oxoglutarate, and the energy level of the cell by binding both ATP and ADP with different affinities. The hyperthermophilic euryarchaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus possesses three Amt proteins, each encoded in an operon with a GlnK ortholog. One of these proteins, GlnK2 was recently found to be incapable of binding 2-OG, and in order to understand the implications of this finding we conducted a detailed structural and functional analysis of a second GlnK protein from A. fulgidus, GlnK3. Contrary to Af-GlnK2 this protein was able to bind both ATP/2-OG and ADP to yield inactive and functional states, respectively. Due to the thermostable nature of the protein we could observe the exact positioning of the notoriously flexible T-loops and explain the binding behavior of GlnK proteins to their interaction partner, the Amt proteins. A thermodynamic analysis of these binding events using microcalorimetry evaluated by microstate modeling revealed significant differences in binding cooperativity compared to other characterized PII proteins, underlining the diversity and adaptability of this class of regulatory signaling proteins

Female Behaviour Drives Expression and Evolution of Gustatory Receptors in Butterflies

Secondary plant compounds are strong deterrents of insect oviposition and feeding, but may also be attractants for specialist herbivores. These insect-plant interactions are mediated by insect gustatory receptors (Grs) and olfactory receptors (Ors). An analysis of the reference genome of the butterfly Heliconius melpomene, which feeds on passion-flower vines (Passiflora spp.), together with whole-genome sequencing within the species and across the Heliconius phylogeny has permitted an unprecedented opportunity to study the patterns of gene duplication and copy-number variation (CNV) among these key sensory genes. We report in silico gene predictions of 73 Gr genes in the H. melpomene reference genome, including putative CO2, sugar, sugar alcohol, fructose, and bitter receptors. The majority of these Grs are the result of gene duplications since Heliconius shared a common ancestor with the monarch butterfly or the silkmoth. Among Grs but not Ors, CNVs are more common within species in those gene lineages that have also duplicated over this evolutionary time-scale, suggesting ongoing rapid gene family evolution. Deep sequencing (∼1 billion reads) of transcriptomes from proboscis and labial palps, antennae, and legs of adult H. melpomene males and females indicates that 67 of the predicted 73 Gr genes and 67 of the 70 predicted Or genes are expressed in these three tissues. Intriguingly, we find that one-third of all Grs show female-biased gene expression (n = 26) and nearly all of these (n = 21) are Heliconius-specific Grs. In fact, a significant excess of Grs that are expressed in female legs but not male legs are the result of recent gene duplication. This difference in Gr gene expression diversity between the sexes is accompanied by a striking sexual dimorphism in the abundance of gustatory sensilla on the forelegs of H. melpomene, suggesting that female oviposition behaviour drives the evolution of new gustatory receptors in butterfly genomes

Population genomics of speciation and admixture

The application of population genomics to the understanding of speciation has led to the emerging field of speciation genomics. This has brought new insight into how divergence builds up within the genome during speciation and is also revealing the extent to which species can continue to exchange genetic material despite reproductive barriers. It is also providing powerful new approaches for linking genotype to phenotype in admixed populations. In this chapter, we give an overview of some of the methods that have been used and some of the novel insights gained. We also outline some of the pitfalls of the most commonly used methods and possible problems with interpretation of the results

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Characteristics of Acacia mangium shoot apical meristems in natural and in vitro conditions in relation to heteroblasty

PDF version of the authors can be published in January 2013International audienceMorphological and histocytological characteristics of Acacia mangium shoot apical meristems (SAMs) were assessed in natural and in vitro conditions in relation to heteroblasty. In the natural environment, SAMs with a mature-phyllode morphology were much bigger, contained more cells with larger vacuolated area, or vacuome, and lower nucleoplasmic ratios than those from the juvenile type (Juv). In these latter, nuclei appeared more voluminous, evenly and lightly stained, with clearly distinguishable nucleolei and less abundant chromocenters. In vitro, where reversions from mature to juvenile morphological traits do occur unpredictably, heteroblasty was less obvious in the SAM characteristics examined. In vitro SAMs corresponding to the juvenile and mature types showed similarities with outdoor Juv SAMs, but could be distinguished from these latter by a much larger vacuome that might be induced by the culture conditions. These findings encourage pursuing the investigations at the chromatin and nucleolus level in SAM zones where heteroblasty-related differences have been detected