Age-related changes in global motion coherence: conflicting haemodynamic and perceptual responses

Our aim was to use both behavioural and neuroimaging data to identify indicators of perceptual decline in motion processing. We employed a global motion coherence task and functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). Healthy adults (n = 72, 18-85) were recruited into the following groups: young (n = 28, mean age = 28), middle-aged (n = 22, mean age = 50), and older adults (n = 23, mean age = 70). Participants were assessed on their motion coherence thresholds at 3 different speeds using a psychophysical design. As expected, we report age group differences in motion processing as demonstrated by higher motion coherence thresholds in older adults. Crucially, we add correlational data showing that global motion perception declines linearly as a function of age. The associated fNIRS recordings provide a clear physiological correlate of global motion perception. The crux of this study lies in the robust linear correlation between age and haemodynamic response for both measures of oxygenation. We hypothesise that there is an increase in neural recruitment, necessitating an increase in metabolic need and blood flow, which presents as a higher oxygenated haemoglobin response. We report age-related changes in motion perception with poorer behavioural performance (high motion coherence thresholds) associated with an increased haemodynamic response

Fungi associated with black mould on baobab trees in southern Africa

There have been numerous reports in the scientific and popular literature suggesting that African baobab (Adansonia digitata) trees are dying, with symptoms including a black mould on their bark. The aim of this study was to determine the identity of the fungi causing this black mould and to consider whether they might be affecting the health of trees. The fungi were identified by sequencing directly from mycelium on the infected tissue as well as from cultures on agar. Sequence data for the ITS region of the rDNA resulted in the identification of four fungi including Aureobasidium pullulans, Toxicocladosporium irritans and a new species of Rachicladosporium described here as Rachicladosporium africanum. A single isolate of an unknown Cladosporium sp. was also found. These fungi, referred to here as black mould, are not true sooty mould fungi and they were shown to penetrate below the bark of infected tissue, causing a distinct host reaction. Although infections can lead to dieback of small twigs on severely infected branches, the mould was not found to kill trees.Members of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP), the NRF-DST Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB), and the University of Pretoria, South Africa.http://link.springer.com/journal/104822016-05-03hb201

The Marine-Derived Filamentous Fungi in Biotechnology

For a long time considered as essentially terrestrial organisms, filamentous fungi have recently disclosed to be widespread in marine habitats. Such a pervasiveness not only concerns obligate marine species but also a multitude of taxa known from disparate terrestrial substrates whose occurrence at sea, at first considered incidental, is now regarded as an evidence of extreme ecological flexibility. Actually, the peculiar physico-chemical properties of the marine environment are presumed to have induced special physiological adaptations that could be considered in view of a possible biotechnological exploitation of fungal strains recovered from marine sources. The potential of filamentous fungi reported from marine contexts for the manifold applications in biotechnology involving microbial strains is revised in this chapter