Environmental differences between sites control the diet and nutrition of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia

Background and aims: Carnivorous plants are sensitive to small changes in resource availability, but few previous studies have examined how differences in nutrient and prey availability affect investment in and the benefit of carnivory. We studied the impact of site-level differences in resource availability on ecophysiological traits of carnivory for Drosera rotundifolia L. Methods: We measured prey availability, investment in carnivory (leaf stickiness), prey capture and diet of plants growing in two bogs with differences in N deposition and plant available N: Cors Fochno (0.62 g m−2 yr.−1, 353 μg l−1), Whixall Moss (1.37 g m−2 yr.−1, 1505 μg l−1). The total N amount per plant and the contributions of prey/root N to the plants’ N budget were calculated using a single isotope natural abundance method. Results: Plants at Whixall Moss invested less in carnivory, were less likely to capture prey, and were less reliant on prey-derived N (25.5% compared with 49.4%). Actual prey capture did not differ between sites. Diet composition differed – Cors Fochno plants captured 62% greater proportions of Diptera. Conclusions: Our results show site-level differences in plant diet and nutrition consistent with differences in resource availability. Similarity in actual prey capture may be explained by differences in leaf stickiness and prey abundance

Rapid and High-Throughput Detection of Highly Pathogenic Bacteria by Ibis PLEX-ID Technology

In this manuscript, we describe the identification of highly pathogenic bacteria using an assay coupling biothreat group-specific PCR with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) run on an Ibis PLEX-ID high-throughput platform. The biothreat cluster assay identifies most of the potential bioterrorism-relevant microorganisms including Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Yersinia pestis, Burkholderia mallei and pseudomallei, Brucella species, and Coxiella burnetii. DNA from 45 different reference materials with different formulations and different concentrations were chosen and sent to a service screening laboratory that uses the PCR/ESI-MS platform to provide a microbial identification service. The standard reference materials were produced out of a repository built up in the framework of the EU funded project “Establishment of Quality Assurances for Detection of Highly Pathogenic Bacteria of Potential Bioterrorism Risk” (EQADeBa). All samples were correctly identified at least to the genus level

Small-Scale Fisheries Bycatch Jeopardizes Endangered Pacific Loggerhead Turtles

Background. Although bycatch of industrial-scale fisheries can cause declines in migratory megafauna including seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles, the impacts of small-scale fisheries have been largely overlooked. Small-scale fisheries occur in coastal waters worldwide, employing over 99 % of the world’s 51 million fishers. New telemetry data reveal that migratory megafauna frequent coastal habitats well within the range of small-scale fisheries, potentially producing high bycatch. These fisheries occur primarily in developing nations, and their documentation and management are limited or non-existent, precluding evaluation of their impacts on non-target megafauna. Principal Findings/Methodology. 30 North Pacific loggerhead turtles that we satellite-tracked from 1996–2005 ranged oceanwide, but juveniles spent 70 % of their time at a high use area coincident with small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico (BCS). We assessed loggerhead bycatch mortality in this area by partnering with local fishers to 1) observe two small-scale fleets that operated closest to the high use area and 2) through shoreline surveys for discarded carcasses. Minimum annual bycatch mortality in just these two fleets at the high use area exceeded 1000 loggerheads year 21, rivaling that of oceanwide industrial-scale fisheries, and threatening the persistence of this critically endangered population. As a result of fisher participation in this study and a bycatch awareness campaign, a consortium of local fishers and other citizens are working to eliminate their bycatch and to establish a national loggerhea

Impacts of climate change on plant diseases – opinions and trends

There has been a remarkable scientific output on the topic of how climate change is likely to affect plant diseases in the coming decades. This review addresses the need for review of this burgeoning literature by summarizing opinions of previous reviews and trends in recent studies on the impacts of climate change on plant health. Sudden Oak Death is used as an introductory case study: Californian forests could become even more susceptible to this emerging plant disease, if spring precipitations will be accompanied by warmer temperatures, although climate shifts may also affect the current synchronicity between host cambium activity and pathogen colonization rate. A summary of observed and predicted climate changes, as well as of direct effects of climate change on pathosystems, is provided. Prediction and management of climate change effects on plant health are complicated by indirect effects and the interactions with global change drivers. Uncertainty in models of plant disease development under climate change calls for a diversity of management strategies, from more participatory approaches to interdisciplinary science. Involvement of stakeholders and scientists from outside plant pathology shows the importance of trade-offs, for example in the land-sharing vs. sparing debate. Further research is needed on climate change and plant health in mountain, boreal, Mediterranean and tropical regions, with multiple climate change factors and scenarios (including our responses to it, e.g. the assisted migration of plants), in relation to endophytes, viruses and mycorrhiza, using long-term and large-scale datasets and considering various plant disease control methods

SVOP Is a Nucleotide Binding Protein

Background: Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 (SV2) and SV2-related protein (SVOP) are transporter-like proteins that localize to neurotransmitter-containing vesicles. Both proteins share structural similarity with the major facilitator (MF) family of small molecule transporters. We recently reported that SV2 binds nucleotides, a feature that has also been reported for another MF family member, the human glucose transporter 1 (Glut1). In the case of Glut1, nucleotide binding affects transport activity. In this study, we determined if SVOP also binds nucleotides and assessed its nucleotide binding properties. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed in vitro photoaffinity labeling experiments with the photoreactive ATP analogue, 8-azido-ATP[c] biotin and purified recombinant SVOP-FLAG fusion protein. We found that SVOP is a nucleotide-binding protein, although both its substrate specificity and binding site differ from that of SV2. Within the nucleotides tested, ATP, GTP and NAD show same level of inhibition on SVOP-FLAG labeling. Dose dependent studies indicated that SVOP demonstrates the highest affinity for NAD, in contrast to SV2, which binds both NAD and ATP with equal affinity. Mapping of the binding site revealed a single region spanning transmembrane domains 9–12, which contrasts to the two binding sites in the large cytoplasmic domains in SV2A. Conclusions/Significance: SVOP is the third MF family member to be found to bind nucleotides. Given that the binding sites are unique in SVOP, SV2 and Glut1, this feature appears to have arisen separately

'The Germans are Hydrophobes': Germany and the Germans in the Shaping of French Identity

This article addresses issues of national identity and nationalism in the age of the French Revolution by looking at French attitudes towards the Germans. It engages with theories of nationalism while presenting empirical evidence gleaned from archival research. This material, sometimes grimly, sometimes rather amusingly, reveals much about French ideas and prejudices about the Germans and how it reflected back on the revolutionary and Napoleonic sense of what it meant to be French

Value of syndromic surveillance within the Armed Forces for early warning during a dengue fever outbreak in French Guiana in 2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A dengue fever outbreak occured in French Guiana in 2006. The objectives were to study the value of a syndromic surveillance system set up within the armed forces, compared to the traditional clinical surveillance system during this outbreak, to highlight issues involved in comparing military and civilian surveillance systems and to discuss the interest of syndromic surveillance for public health response.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Military syndromic surveillance allows the surveillance of suspected dengue fever cases among the 3,000 armed forces personnel. Within the same population, clinical surveillance uses several definition criteria for dengue fever cases, depending on the epidemiological situation. Civilian laboratory surveillance allows the surveillance of biologically confirmed cases, within the 200,000 inhabitants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>It was shown that syndromic surveillance detected the dengue fever outbreak several weeks before clinical surveillance, allowing quick and effective enhancement of vector control within the armed forces. Syndromic surveillance was also found to have detected the outbreak before civilian laboratory surveillance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Military syndromic surveillance allowed an early warning for this outbreak to be issued, enabling a quicker public health response by the armed forces. Civilian surveillance system has since introduced syndromic surveillance as part of its surveillance strategy. This should enable quicker public health responses in the future.</p