Vestigial singing behaviour persists after the evolutionary loss of song in crickets

This researchwas supported by Natural Environment Research Council grants to N.W.B. (NE/L011255/1 and NE/I027800/1).The evolutionary loss of sexual traits is widely predicted. Because sexual signals can arise from the coupling of specialized motor activity with morphological structures, disruption to a single component could lead to overall loss of function. Opportunities to observe this process and characterize any remaining signal components are rare, but could provide insight into the mechanisms, indirect costs and evolutionary consequences of signal loss. We investigated the recent evolutionary loss of a long-range acoustic sexual signal in the Hawaiian field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Flatwing males carry mutations that remove sound-producing wing structures, eliminating all acoustic signalling and affording protection against an acoustically-orientating parasitoid fly. We show that flatwing males produce wing movement patterns indistinguishable from those that generate sonorous calling song in normal-wing males. Evolutionary song loss caused by the disappearance of structural components of the sound-producing apparatus has left behind the energetically costly motor behaviour underlying normal singing. These results provide a rare example of a vestigial behaviour and raise the possibility that such traits could be co-opted for novel functions.PostprintPeer reviewe

Advances in prevention and therapy of neonatal dairy calf diarrhoea : a systematical review with emphasis on colostrum management and fluid therapy

Neonatal calf diarrhoea remains the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in preweaned dairy calves worldwide. This complex disease can be triggered by both infectious and non-infectious causes. The four most important enteropathogens leading to neonatal dairy calf diarrhoea are Escherichia coli, rota-and coronavirus, and Cryptosporidium parvum. Besides treating diarrhoeic neonatal dairy calves, the veterinarian is the most obvious person to advise the dairy farmer on prevention and treatment of this disease. This review deals with prevention and treatment of neonatal dairy calf diarrhoea focusing on the importance of a good colostrum management and a correct fluid therapy

Effects of aversive odour presentation on inhibitory control in the Stroop colour-word interference task

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Due to the unique neural projections of the olfactory system, odours have the ability to directly influence affective processes. Furthermore, it has been shown that emotional states can influence various non-emotional cognitive tasks, such as memory and planning. However, the link between emotional and cognitive processes is still not fully understood. The present study used the olfactory pathway to induce a negative emotional state in humans to investigate its effect on inhibitory control performance in a standard, single-trial manual Stroop colour-word interference task. An unpleasant (H₂S) and an emotionally neutral (Eugenol) odorant were presented in two separate experimental runs, both in blocks alternating with ambient air, to 25 healthy volunteers, while they performed the cognitive task.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Presentation of the unpleasant odorant reduced Stroop interference by reducing the reaction times for incongruent stimuli, while the presentation of the neutral odorant had no effect on task performance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The odour-induced negative emotional state appears to facilitate cognitive processing in the task used in the present study, possibly by increasing the amount of cognitive control that is being exerted. This stands in contrast to other findings that showed impaired cognitive performance under odour-induced negative emotional states, but is consistent with models of mood-congruent processing.</p

A spastic paraplegia mouse model reveals REEP1-dependent ER shaping

Axonopathies are a group of clinically diverse disorders characterized by the progressive degeneration of the axons of specific neurons. In hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), the axons of cortical motor neurons degenerate and cause a spastic movement disorder. HSP is linked to mutations in several loci known collectively as the spastic paraplegia genes (SPGs). We identified a heterozygous receptor accessory protein 1 (REEP1) exon 2 deletion in a patient suffering from the autosomal dominantly inherited HSP variant SPG31. We generated the corresponding mouse model to study the underlying cellular pathology. Mice with heterozygous deletion of exon 2 in Reep1 displayed a gait disorder closely resembling SPG31 in humans. Homozygous exon 2 deletion resulted in the complete loss of REEP1 and a more severe phenotype with earlier onset. At the molecular level, we demonstrated that REEP1 is a neuron-specific, membrane-binding, and membrane curvature-inducing protein that resides in the ER. We further show that Reep1 expression was prominent in cortical motor neurons. In REEP1-deficient mice, these neurons showed reduced complexity of the peripheral ER upon ultrastructural analysis. Our study connects proper neuronal ER architecture to long-term axon survival

Biotic and abiotic retention, recycling and remineralization of metals in the ocean

Trace metals shape both the biogeochemical functioning and biological structure of oceanic provinces. Trace metal biogeochemistry has primarily focused on modes of external supply of metals from aeolian, hydrothermal, sedimentary and other sources. However, metals also undergo internal transformations such as abiotic and biotic retention, recycling and remineralization. The role of these internal transformations in metal biogeochemical cycling is now coming into focus. First, the retention of metals by biota in the surface ocean for days, weeks or months depends on taxon-specific metal requirements of phytoplankton, and on their ultimate fate: that is, viral lysis, senescence, grazing and/or export to depth. Rapid recycling of metals in the surface ocean can extend seasonal productivity by maintaining higher levels of metal bioavailability compared to the influence of external metal input alone. As metal-containing organic particles are exported from the surface ocean, different metals exhibit distinct patterns of remineralization with depth. These patterns are mediated by a wide range of physicochemical and microbial processes such as the ability of particles to sorb metals, and are influenced by the mineral and organic characteristics of sinking particles. We conclude that internal metal transformations play an essential role in controlling metal bioavailability, phytoplankton distributions and the subsurface resupply of metals

Autocrine Regulation of Pulmonary Inflammation by Effector T-Cell Derived IL-10 during Infection with Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the leading viral cause of severe lower respiratory tract illness in young infants. Clinical studies have documented that certain polymorphisms in the gene encoding the regulatory cytokine IL-10 are associated with the development of severe bronchiolitis in RSV infected infants. Here, we examined the role of IL-10 in a murine model of primary RSV infection and found that high levels of IL-10 are produced in the respiratory tract by anti-viral effector T cells at the onset of the adaptive immune response. We demonstrated that the function of the effector T cell -derived IL-10 in vivo is to limit the excess pulmonary inflammation and thereby to maintain critical lung function. We further identify a novel mechanism by which effector T cell-derived IL-10 controls excess inflammation by feedback inhibition through engagement of the IL-10 receptor on the antiviral effector T cells. Our findings suggest a potentially critical role of effector T cell-derived IL-10 in controlling disease severity in clinical RSV infection

Are ‘Endurance’ Alleles ‘Survival’ Alleles? Insights from the ACTN3 R577X Polymorphism

Exercise phenotypes have played a key role for ensuring survival over human evolution. We speculated that some genetic variants that influence exercise phenotypes could be associated with exceptional survival (i.e. reaching ≥100years of age). Owing to its effects on muscle structure/function, a potential candidate is the Arg(R)577Ter(X) polymorphism (rs1815739) in ACTN3, the structural gene encoding the skeletal muscle protein α-actinin-3. We compared the ACTN3 R577X genotype/allele frequencies between the following groups of ethnically-matched (Spanish) individuals: centenarians (cases, n = 64; 57 female; age range: 100–108 years), young healthy controls (n = 283, 67 females, 216 males; 21±2 years), and humans who are at the two end-points of exercise capacity phenotypes, i.e. muscle endurance (50 male professional road cyclists) and muscle power (63 male jumpers/sprinters). Although there were no differences in genotype/allele frequencies between centenarians (RR:28.8%; RX:47.5%; XX:23.7%), and controls (RR:31.8%; RX:49.8%; XX:18.4%) or endurance athletes (RR:28.0%; RX:46%; XX:26.0%), we observed a significantly higher frequency of the X allele (P = 0.019) and XX genotype (P = 0.011) in centenarians compared with power athletes (RR:47.6%; RX:36.5%;XX:15.9%). Notably, the frequency of the null XX (α-actinin-3 deficient) genotype in centenarians was the highest ever reported in non-athletic Caucasian populations. In conclusion, despite there were no significant differences with the younger, control population, overall the ACTN3 genotype of centenarians resembles that of world-class elite endurance athletes and differs from that of elite power athletes. Our preliminary data would suggest a certain ‘survival’ advantage brought about by α-actinin-3 deficiency and the ‘endurance’/oxidative muscle phenotype that is commonly associated with this condition

Autocrine Prostaglandin E2 Signaling Promotes Tumor Cell Survival and Proliferation in Childhood Neuroblastoma

Background: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is an important mediator in tumor-promoting inflammation. High expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been detected in the embryonic childhood tumor neuroblastoma, and treatment with COX inhibitors significantly reduces tumor growth. Here, we have investigated the significance of a high COX-2 expression in neuroblastoma by analysis of PGE2 production, the expression pattern and localization of PGE2 receptors and intracellular signal transduction pathways activated by PGE2. Principal Findings: A high expression of the PGE2 receptors, EP1, EP2, EP3 and EP4 in primary neuroblastomas, independent of biological and clinical characteristics, was detected using immunohistochemistry. In addition, mRNA and protein corresponding to each of the receptors were detected in neuroblastoma cell lines. Immunofluorescent staining revealed localization of the receptors to the cellular membrane, in the cytoplasm, and in the nuclear compartment. Neuroblastoma cells produced PGE2 and stimulation of serum-starved neuroblastoma cells with PGE2 increased the intracellular concentration of calcium and cyclic AMP with subsequent phosphorylation of Akt. Addition of 16,16-dimethyl PGE 2 (dmPGE2) increased cell viability in a time, dose- and cell line-dependent manner. Treatment of neuroblastoma cells with a COX-2 inhibitor resulted in a diminished cell growth and viability that was reversed by the addition of dmPGE2. Similarly, PGE 2 receptor antagonists caused a decrease in neuroblastoma cell viability in a dose-dependent manner