The Dynamics of Plant-Mediated Sediment Oxygenation in Spartina anglica Rhizospheres—a Planar Optode Study

Belowground sediment oxygenation in rhizospheres of wetland plants promotes nutrient uptake, serve as protection against toxic reduced compounds and play an important role in wetland nutrient cycling. The presence of ~1.5-mm-wide oxic zones around roots of the intertidal marsh grass Spartina anglica was demonstrated below the sediment surface using planar optode technology recording 2D images of the sediment oxygen distribution. Oxic root zones were restricted to the root tips stretching up to 16 mm along the roots with an oxygen concentration up to 85 μmol L−1 detected at the root surface. Radial oxygen loss across the root surface ranged from 250 to 300 nmol m−2 s−1, which is comparable to other wetland plants. During air exposure of the aboveground biomass, atmospheric oxygen was the primary source for belowground oxygen transport, and light availability only had a minor effect on the belowground sediment oxygenation. During inundations completely submerging the aboveground biomass cutting off access to atmospheric oxygen, oxic root zones diminished significantly in the light and were completely eliminated in darkness. Within the time frame of a normal tidal inundation (~1.5 h), photosynthetic oxygen production maintained the presence of oxic root zones in light, whereas oxic root zones were eliminated within 1 h in darkness. The results show that the sediment oxygenation in Spartina anglica rhizospheres is temporally dynamic as well as spatially variable along the roots

Real-time prediction with U.K. monetary aggregates in the presence of model uncertainty

A popular account for the demise of the U.K.’s monetary targeting regime in the 1980s blames the fluctuating predictive relationships between broad money and inflation and real output growth. Yet ex post policy analysis based on heavily revised data suggests no fluctuations in the predictive content of money. In this paper, we investigate the predictive relationships for inflation and output growth using both real-time and heavily revised data. We consider a large set of recursively estimated vector autoregressive (VAR) and vector error correction models (VECM). These models differ in terms of lag length and the number of cointegrating relationships. We use Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to demonstrate that real-time monetary policymakers faced considerable model uncertainty. The in-sample predictive content of money fluctuated during the 1980s as a result of data revisions in the presence of model uncertainty. This feature is only apparent with real-time data as heavily revised data obscure these fluctuations. Out-of-sample predictive evaluations rarely suggest that money matters for either inflation or real output. We conclude that both data revisions and model uncertainty contributed to the demise of the U.K.’s monetary targeting regime

Comparative Genomics Identifies Candidate Genes for Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) Resistance in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)

Infectious salmon anemia (ISA) has been described as the hoof and mouth disease of salmon farming. ISA is caused by a lethal and highly communicable virus, which can have a major impact on salmon aquaculture, as demonstrated by an outbreak in Chile in 2007. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) for ISA resistance has been mapped to three microsatellite markers on linkage group (LG) 8 (Chr 15) on the Atlantic salmon genetic map. We identified bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones and three fingerprint contigs from the Atlantic salmon physical map that contains these markers. We made use of the extensive BAC end sequence database to extend these contigs by chromosome walking and identified additional two markers in this region. The BAC end sequences were used to search for conserved synteny between this segment of LG8 and the fish genomes that have been sequenced. An examination of the genes in the syntenic segments of the tetraodon and medaka genomes identified candidates for association with ISA resistance in Atlantic salmon based on differential expression profiles from ISA challenges or on the putative biological functions of the proteins they encode. One gene in particular, HIV-EP2/MBP-2, caught our attention as it may influence the expression of several genes that have been implicated in the response to infection by infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV). Therefore, we suggest that HIV-EP2/MBP-2 is a very strong candidate for the gene associated with the ISAV resistance QTL in Atlantic salmon and is worthy of further study

Bursts and Horizontal Evolution of DNA Transposons in the Speciation of Pseudotetraploid Salmonids

Background: Several genome duplications have occurred in the evolutionary history of teleostfish. In returning to a stable diploid state, the polyploid genome reorganized, and large portions arelost, while the fish lines evolved to numerous species. Large scale transposon movement has beenpostulated to play an important role in the genome reorganization process. We analyzed the DNAsequence of several large loci in Salmo salar and other species for the presence of DNA transposonfamilies.Results: We have identified bursts of activity of 14 families of DNA transposons (12 Tc1-like and2 piggyBac-like families, including 11 novel ones) in genome sequences of Salmo salar. Several ofthese families have similar sequences in a number of closely and distantly related fish, lamprey, andfrog species as well as in the parasite Schistosoma japonicum. Analysis of sequence similaritiesbetween copies within the families of these bursts demonstrates several waves of transpositionactivities coinciding with salmonid species divergence. Tc1-like families show a master gene-likecopying process, illustrated by extensive but short burst of copying activity, while the piggyBac-likefamilies show a more random copying pattern. Recent families may include copies with an openreading frame for an active transposase enzyme.Conclusion: We have identified defined bursts of transposon activity that make use of masterslaveand random mechanisms. The bursts occur well after hypothesized polyploidy events andcoincide with speciation events. Parasite-mediated lateral transfer of transposons are implicated