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Abstract: The Mediterranean stony coral Cladocora caespitosa (Linnaeus, 1767) is a well-known habitat builder, and as such hosts a diversified faunal assemblage. Although polychaetes are one of the most abundant and diverse macrobenthic groups associated with C. caespitosa colonies, our knowledge of their ecological features in this association is still limited. The aim of this paper was to gather and compare the most comprehensive data available on polychaetes associated with C. caespitosa in the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas, and to test for differences between these geographic areas. To this end, differences were tested in terms of: (i) richness and structure of polychaete assemblages; (ii) feeding and functional traits of assemblages; (iii) the main factors influencing those aspects, (iv) the relationship between polychaete assemblages richness and Cladocora colony size, and estimate richness. Differences were observed between the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas, in terms of richness, species composition and relative proportion of the dominant feeding guild (filter feeders most abundant in the Aegean and carnivores in the Adriatic) and motility mode (sessile most abundant in the Aegean and motile in the Adriatic). Conversely, cosmopolitan and Atlanto-Mediterranean species dominated the assemblages in both geographic areas, and the same Species-Area Relation model proved to be effective for richness estimation in both geographic areas.
Keywords: benthic ecology, habitat builder species, polychaeta, Mediterranean Sea
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 227; Downloads: 113
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Abstract: Background: Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) occur in 60% of chondrosarcoma, 80% of WHO grade II-IV glioma and 20% of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. These solid IDH1-mutated tumors produce the oncometabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG) and are more vulnerable to disruption of their metabolism. Methods: Patients with IDH1-mutated chondrosarcoma, glioma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma received oral combinational treatment with the antidiabetic drug metformin and the antimalarial drug chloroquine. The primary objective was to determine the occurrence of dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) and the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Radiological and biochemical tumor responses to metformin and chloroquine were investigated using CT/MRI scans and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measurements of D-2HG levels in serum. Results: Seventeen patients received study treatment for a median duration of 43 days (range: 7–74 days). Of twelve evaluable patients, 10 patients discontinued study medication because of progressive disease and two patients due to toxicity. None of the patients experienced a DLT. The MTD was determined to be 1500 mg of metformin two times a day and 200 mg of chloroquine once a day. A serum D/L-2HG ratio of ≥4.5 predicted the presence of an IDH1 mutation with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 100%. By utilization of digital droplet PCR on plasma samples, we were able to detect tumor-specific IDH1 hotspot mutations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in investigated patients. Conclusion: Treatment of advanced IDH1-mutated solid tumors with metformin and chloroquine was well tolerated but did not induce a clinical response in this phase Ib clinical trial.
Keywords: metformin, chloroquine, cancer, isocitrate dehydrogenase, pharmacokinetics, glioblastoma, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, chondrosarcoma
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 247; Downloads: 175
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Abstract: Mitigating pollinator declines in agriculturally dominated landscapes to safeguard pollination services requires the involvement of farmers and their willingness to adopt pollinator-friendly management. However, farmer knowledge, perceptions, and actions to support on-farm pollinators and their alignment with science-based knowledge and recommendations are rarely evaluated. To close this knowledge gap, we interviewed 560 farmers from 11 countries around the world, cultivating at least one of four widely grown pollinator-dependent crops (apple, avocado, kiwifruit, oilseed rape). We particularly focused on non-bee crop pollinators which, despite being important pollinators of many crops, received less research attention than bees. We found that farmers perceived bees to be more important pollinators than other flower-visiting insects. However, around 75% of the farmers acknowledged that non-bees contributed to the pollination of their crops, seeing them as additional pollinators rather than substitutes for bees. Despite farmers rating their own observations as being most important in how they perceived the contribution of different crop pollinator taxa, their perception aligned closely with results from available scientific studies across crops and countries. Farmer perceptions were also linked with their pollinator management practices, e.g. farmers who used managed bees for crop pollination services (more than half the farmers) rated these managed bees as particularly important. Interestingly, their willingness to establish wildflower strips or manage hedgerows to enhance pollinator visitation was linked to their ecological knowledge of non-bees or to government subsidies. Farmers adapted practices to enhance pollination services depending on the crop, which indicates an understanding of differences in the pollination ecology of crops. Almost half of the farmers had changed on-farm pollination management in the past 10 years and farm practices differed greatly between countries. This suggests integrated crop pollination measures are being adapted by farmers to reach best pollinator management practices. Our findings highlight the importance of studying local knowledge as a key to co-design locally-adapted measures to facilitate pollinator-integrated food production as ecological intensification tools.
Keywords: conservation, crop pollination, ecological intensification, farmer knowledge, local knowledge, survey
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 275; Downloads: 193
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Abstract: Our experiences shape our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. The natural vibrational environment (vibroscape) is hidden to human senses but is nevertheless perceived and exploited by the majority of animals. Here, we show that the vibroscape recorded on plants in a temperate hay meadow is a dynamic low-frequency world, rich in species-specific vibrational signals. The overall vibroscape composition changed throughout the season and also depended on the plant species, as well as on the spatial position of individual plants within the meadow. Within the studied community, vibrationally signaling species sharing this communication channel avoided interference primarily by partitioning vibrational space on a fine temporal scale. The vibroscape is a reliable source of information in the environment and expands our understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes.
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 305; Downloads: 221
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Abstract: Background Developing sustainable autotrophic cell factories depends heavily on the availability of robust and well-characterized biological parts. For cyanobacteria, these still lag behind the more advanced E. coli toolkit. In the course of previous protein expression experiments with cyanobacteria, we encountered inconveniences in working with currently available RSF1010-based shuttle plasmids, particularly due to their low biosafety and low yields of recombinant proteins. We also recognized some drawbacks of the commonly used fluorescent reporters, as quantification can be affected by the intrinsic fluorescence of cyanobacteria. To overcome these drawbacks, we envisioned a new chimeric vector and an alternative reporter that could be used in cyanobacterial synthetic biology and tested them in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Methods We designed the pMJc01 shuttle plasmid based on the broad host range RSFmob-I replicon. Standard cloning techniques were used for vector construction following the RFC10 synthetic biology standard. The behavior of pMJC01 was tested with selected regulatory elements in E. coli and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 for the biosynthesis of the established GFP reporter and of a new reporter protein, cystatin. Cystatin activity was assayed using papain as a cognate target. Results With the new vector we observed a significantly higher GFP expression in E. coli and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 compared to the commonly used RSF1010-based pPMQAK1. Cystatin, a cysteine protease inhibitor, was successfully expressed with the new vector in both E. coli and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Its expression levels allowed quantification comparable to the standardly used fluorescent reporter GFPmut3b. An important advantage of the new vector is its improved biosafety due to the absence of plasmid regions encoding conjugative transfer components. The broadhost range vector pMJc01 could find application in synthetic biology and biotechnology of cyanobacteria due to its relatively small size, stability and ease of use. In addition, cystatin could be a useful reporter in all cell systems that do not contain papain-type proteases and inhibitors, such as cyanobacteria, and provides an alternative to fluorescent reporters or complements them.
Keywords: bacteria, cyanobacteria, synthetic biology, proteolytic cleavage, cystatin
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 263; Downloads: 373
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