Methanogenic communities in permafrost-affected soils of the Laptev Sea coast, Siberian Arctic, characterized by 16S rRNA gene fingerprints

Permafrost environments in the Arctic are characterized by extreme environmental conditions that demand a specific resistance from microorganisms to enable them to survive. In order to understand the carbon dynamics in the climate-sensitive Arctic permafrost environments, the activity and diversity of methanogenic communities were studied in three different permafrost soils of the Siberian Laptev Sea coast. The effect of temperature and the availability of methanogenic substrates on CH4 production was analysed. In addition, the diversity of methanogens was analysed by PCR with specific methanogenic primers and by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) followed by sequencing of DGGE bands reamplified from the gel. Our results demonstrated methanogenesis with a distinct vertical profile in each investigated permafrost soil. The soils on Samoylov Island showed at least two optima of CH4 production activity, which indicated a shift in the methanogenic community from mesophilic to psychrotolerant methanogens with increasing soil depth. Furthermore, it was shown that CH4 production in permafrost soils is substrate-limited, although these soils are characterized by the accumulation of organic matter. Sequence analyses revealed a distinct diversity of methanogenic archaea affiliated to Methanomicrobiaceae, Methanosarcinaceae and Methanosaetaceae. However, a relationship between the activity and diversity of methanogens in permafrost soils could not be shown

Unexpected high frequency of neurofibroma in the celiac ganglion of German cattle

In a study originally designed to find potential risk factors for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) we examined tissues from 403 Holstein Frisian cattle in total. These included 20 BSE cattle and their 236 birth- and feeding cohort animals plus 32 offspring, 103 age, breed and district-matched control cattle and further twelve cattle with neurological signs. In addition to the obex, we examined the celiac ganglion, cervical cranial ganglion, trigeminal ganglion and proximal ganglion of the vagus nerve using histological techniques. Unexpectedly, we found a high number of neurofibroma, a benign peripheral nerve sheath tumor consisting of Schwann cells, fibroblasts and perineural cells. The neurofibroma were present only in the celiac ganglion and found during histologic examination. With a frequency of 9.91% in BSE cattle and their cohorts (case animals) and 9.09% in the age, breed and district matched control animals there seems to be no correlation between the occurrence of BSE and neurofibroma. Benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors have been described more often in cattle than in other domestic animals. Usually, they are incidental macroscopic findings in the thoracic ganglia during meat inspection. To our knowledge, there are no previous systematic histologic studies including bovine celiac ganglia at all. The high incidence of celiac ganglia neurofibroma may play a role in the frequently occurring abomasal displacements in Holstein Frisian cattle as the tumors might cause a gastrointestinal motility disorder. At present a genetic predisposition for these neoplasms cannot be ruled out.Grants ZN 1294 and ZN 2168, Volkswagen Stiftung financed the first years of sample collection, i.e. material from BSE and cohort animals regarding staff and material expenses Project number: 38028266, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), was granted for the original study design to identify risk factors for BSE in the cohort animals of BSE animalsSaarland University within the funding programme Open Access Publishing

Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach Report No. 41/2004 Mini-Workshop: Probability Theory on Trees and Analysis of Algorithms

Introduction by the Organisers The analysis of algorithms and data structures, started by D. Knuth, is a rapidly growing area at the interface of Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science. Probability theory enters the subject in a natural way when studying an algorithm as to its performance over randomized inputs and/or if an algorithm itsel

Dynamic adaptation of phytoplankton vertical migration to changing grazing and nutrient conditions

Despite the ubiquitous occurrence of vertical migration of phytoplankton its quantitative significance remains poorly known. We eliminated a dense Daphnia population in a pond by introducing whitefish fingerlings, and assessed the effects on the vertical migration of dominating motile phytoplankton. At the highest abundance of Daphnia, cryptophytes reduced grazing losses by staying in the hypolimnion day and night, but Mallomonas species armoured by silica bristles remained in the epilimnion. After the fish introduction, phytoplankton was released from Daphnia grazing pressure, allowing cryptophytes to occur in the epilimnion also at noon. At the same time, increased phytoplankton biomass exacerbated the nutrient depletion. Cryptophytes compensated for that by migrating into the anoxic hypolimnion, whereupon their growth rates increased. The collapse of Daphnia was also associated with a temporary increase in nutrient regeneration by enzyme activities and decreases in total nutrient concentration and bacterial biomass in the whole water column. Our results show that cryptophytes can dynamically modify their vertical migration to balance between the exploitation of various nutrient resources and the risk of becoming eaten. Hypolimnetic nutrient resources can be quantitatively more important for phytoplankton than previously assumed.Peer reviewe