dUTPase expression correlates with cell division potential in Drosophila melanogaster

dUTPase is a dNTP sanitizing enzyme that prevents the appearance of the potentially harmful uracil bases in DNA by hydrolyzing cellular dUTP. This function of dUTPase is found to be essential in many organisms including Drosophila melanogaster. Previously we showed that the expression pattern of dUTPase determines the extent of uracil accumulation in the genome of different tissues. We wished to reveal the regulatory mechanism that eventually leaves a set of tissues to have uracil-free and intact genome. We found that the expression pattern established by the promoter of Drosophila dUTPase overlaps with mRNA and protein expression pattern, excluding the involvement of other posttranscriptional contribution. This promoter was found to be active in primordial tissues, such as in imaginal discs of the larvae, in the larval brain and in reproductive organs. In the case of brain and imaginal tissues, we observed that the promoter activity depends on DRE motifs, the docking site of DREF, which is known as a transcriptional activator of genes involved in replication and proliferation. These results suggest that dUTPase expression is fine-tuned to meet the requirements of DNA synthesis, in tissues where the maintenance of genome integrity is of high importance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The more we do, the less we gain? Balancing effort and efficacy in managing the Solidago gigantea invasion

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Middle Miocene (Badenian) macroinvertebrates from Pécs-Danitzpuszta (Mecsek Mts, SW Hungary)

This paper examines Badenian (middle Miocene) macroinvertebrates – corals and molluscs – from the Pécs-Danitzpuszta sand pit (Mecsek Mts, SW Hungary) in order to extend our knowledge on Miocene normal marine deposits of the Mecsek region. Corals occur reworked in the upper Miocene sand that was deposited in the brackish Lake Pannon, and presumably originate either from the middle Badenian Pécsszabolcs or the upper Badenian Rákos Member of the Lajta Formation. A total of seven taxa were identified. These taxa suggest subtropical conditions and a lack of coral reefs in the Badenian. Molluscs were found in situ in the upper Badenian Szilágy Clay Marl Member of the Baden Formation and the Rákos Member of the Lajta Formation. They dominantly consist of bivalves and represent benthic assemblages typical of the middle Miocene Central Paratethys

A novel role for the Drosophila epsin (lqf): involvement in autophagy

Screening P-element-induced mutant collections, 52 lines were selected as potentially defected ones in endocytosis or autophagy. After excluding those which were rescued by 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment, the exact position of the inserted P-element was determined in the remaining lines. In the case of l(3)S011027 stock, the liquid facets (lqf) gene was affected which codes an epsin-homolog protein in Drosophila. We reveal that Lqf is essential to the receptor-mediated endocytosis of larval serum proteins (LSPs) in the larval fat body cells of Drosophila. In l(3)S011027 line, lack of Lqf fails the formation of autophagosomes thus leading to the arrest of destroying of trophocytes. Transgenic larvae carrying Lqf-RNAi construct were unable to generate endocytic and autophagic vacuoles and led to a prolonged larval stage. On the other hand, Lqf protein showed an exclusive colocalization with the Lyso Tracker Red- or GFP-Atg8a labeled autophagosomes. By using the antiserum generated against the fifth exon of lqf, we demonstrated that prior to the onset of developmental autophagy the Lqf protein was present in the nucleus of fat body cell, but thereafter the protein was localized in the territory of endocytic and autophagic vacuoles. The fact that the inhibition of the target of rapamycin (TOR) did not restore the autophagic process and the normal development in the case of lqf mutant larvae points to that the Lqf is downstream to the TOR, the central kinase of the autophagy pathway

New thousand-seed weight dataset for plant species of Central Europe

One of the most important and most easily measurable physical characteristics of plant seeds is their weight, which influences and indicates crucial ecological processes. Seed weight affects spatial and temporal dispersibility, and can also influence seed predation and the germination, growth and survival of seedlings. Providing trait data for species missing from international databases is key to promote studies that advance our understanding of the functioning of plant communities and ecosystems, which is an essential issue in the face of the global climate change and biodiversity loss. Compared to species from Western and Northwestern Europe, those with an Eastern or Central European centre of distribution are underrepresented in most international trait databases. Therefore, the creation of specific trait databases is key to help regional studies. In this respect, it is important not only to collect fresh seeds for weight measurements, but also to measure and process data of seeds preserved in collections and make them available to the broader scientific community. In this data paper we provide seed weight data to fill in missing trait data of plant species of Central and Eastern Europe. Our dataset includes weight measurement for 281 taxa of the Central European flora including also some cultivated and exotic species. The seeds were collected between 1971 and 2021 mostly in Central Europe. One part of the measured seeds was collected in the last decade, the other part is from an older seed collection, but all seeds were measured recently. For each species, we collected a minimum of 3 × 100 intact seeds, if possible. The seeds were air-dried at room temperature (approximately 21 °C and 50% relative humidity) for at least two weeks and measured with an accuracy of 0.001 g using an analytical balance. The thousand-seed weights reported here were calculated based on the measured values. Our goal for the future is to incorporate the seed weight data reported here in a regional database (Pannonian Database of Plant Traits – PADAPT) that gathers plant traits and other plant characteristics for the Pannonian flora. The data presented here will facilitate trait-based analyses of the flora and vegetation of Central Europe