An endogenous factor enhances ferulic acid decarboxylation catalyzed by phenolic acid decarboxylase from Candida guilliermondii

Resource subsidies in the form of allochthonous primary production drive secondary production in many ecosystems, often sustaining diversity and overall productivity. Despite their importance in structuring marine communities, there is little understanding of how subsidies move through juxtaposed habitats and into recipient communities. We investigated the transport of detritus from kelp forests to a deep Arctic fjord (northern Norway). We quantified the seasonal abundance and size structure of kelp detritus in shallow subtidal (0‒12 m), deep subtidal (12‒85 m), and deep fjord (400‒450 m) habitats using a combination of camera surveys, dive observations, and detritus collections over 1 year. Detritus formed dense accumulations in habitats adjacent to kelp forests, and the timing of depositions coincided with the discrete loss of whole kelp blades during spring. We tracked these blades through the deep subtidal and into the deep fjord, and showed they act as a short-term resource pulse transported over several weeks. In deep subtidal regions, detritus consisted mostly of fragments and its depth distribution was similar across seasons (50% of total observations). Tagged pieces of detritus moved slowly out of kelp forests (displaced 4‒50 m (mean 11.8 m ± 8.5 SD) in 11‒17 days, based on minimum estimates from recovered pieces), and most (75%) variability in the rate of export was related to wave exposure and substrate. Tight resource coupling between kelp forests and deep fjords indicate that changes in kelp abundance would propagate through to deep fjord ecosystems, with likely consequences for the ecosystem functioning and services they provide

Overwintering States of the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) at the Time of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident in March 2011

The Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 caused the massive release of anthropogenic radioactive materials from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant to its surrounding environment. Its biological effects have been studied using the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), but the overwintering states of this butterfly remain elusive. Here, we conducted a series of field surveys in March 2018, March 2019, and April 2019 in Fukushima and its vicinity to clarify the overwintering states of this butterfly at the time of the Fukushima nuclear accident. We discovered overwintering individuals in situ associated with the host plant Oxalis corniculata under natural straw mulch as first-instar to fourth-instar larvae in March 2018 and 2019. No other developmental stages were found. The body length and width were reasonably correlated with the accumulated temperature. On the basis of a linear regression equation between body size and accumulated temperature, together with other data, we deduced that the pale grass blue butterfly occurred as fourth-instar larvae in Fukushima and its vicinity at the time of the accident. This study paves the way for subsequent dosimetric analyses that determine the radiation doses absorbed by the butterfly after the accident

Functional analyses of chitinases in the moss <i>Physcomitrella patens</i>: chitin oligosaccharide-induced gene expression and enzymatic characterization

<p>Plant chitinases play diverse roles including defense against pathogenic fungi. Using reverse-transcription quantitative PCR analysis, we found that six chitinase (PpChi) genes and two genes for chitin elicitor receptor kinases (PpCERKs) are expressed at considerable levels in the moss <i>Physcomitrella patens</i> subsp. <i>patens</i>. The expressed PpChis belonged to glycoside hydrolase family 19 (class I: PpChi-Ia and -Ib; class II: PpChi-IIa and -IIc; and class IV: PpChi-IV) and to glycoside hydrolase family 18 (class V: PpChi-Vb). Treatment with chitin tetramer or hexamer increased the expression of class I and IV PpChi genes and decreased that of class II PpChi genes. Recombinant PpChi-Ia, PpChi-IV, and PpChi-Vb were characterized. PpChi-IV exhibited higher activity against chitin tetramer and pentamer than PpChi-Ia did. PpChi-Vb showed transglycosylation activity and PpChi-Ia inhibited fungal growth. These results suggest that chitinases of different classes play different roles in defense mechanism of moss plant against fungal pathogens.</p> <p>Possible roles of each class of chitinase and chitin elicitor receptor kinase (CERK) for self-defense against pathogenic fungi in moss plant.</p