Ido Izhaki

Bio: Ido Izhaki is an academic researcher from University of Haifa. The author has contributed to research in topics: Frugivore & Nectar. The author has an hindex of 40, co-authored 204 publications receiving 5108 citations. Previous affiliations of Ido Izhaki include University of Florida & Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Emodin--a secondary metabolite with multiple ecological functions in higher plants.

Abstract: Summary The anthraquinone emodin, identified in 17 plant families distributed worldwide, has numerous biological activities, some of which exhibit a wide spectrum of ecological impacts by mediating biotic or abiotic interactions of plants with their environment. Here the evidence for direct and indirect effects of emodin on plant survival and reproduction is reviewed. Emodin in vegetative organs may help protect plants against herbivores, pathogens, competitors and extrinsic abiotic factors (e.g. high light intensities). In unripe fruit pulp, emodin may facilitate seed dispersal by protecting the immature fruit against predispersal seed predation whereas in ripe pulp it may deter frugivores and thus reduce the chances that seeds will be defecated beneath the parent plant. It also accelerates the passage of seeds through the digestive tract, potentially reducing dispersal distance and increasing seed viability upon dispersal. In certain circumstances both of the last two effects could also have negative fitness consequences for plants. Natural selection should favor secondary metabolites with multiple functions because they protect the plants against a variety of unpredictable biotic and abiotic environments. Such metabolites also enhance plant defenses by using different molecular targets of specific enemies through a variety of mechanisms of action. Emodin illustrates the wide and often overlooked potential for chemical multifunctionality in plant secondary metabolites.

Bacterial communities in floral nectar.

Abstract: Summary Floral nectar is regarded as the most important reward available to animal-pollinated plants to attract pollinators. Despite the vast amount of publications on nectar properties, the role of nectar as a natural bacterial habitat is yet unexplored. To gain a better understanding of bacterial communities inhabiting floral nectar, culture-dependent and -independent (454-pyrosequencing) methods were used. Our findings demonstrate that bacterial communities in nectar are abundant and diverse. Using culture-dependent method we showed that bacterial communities of nectar displayed significant variation among three plant species: Amygdalus communis, Citrus paradisi and Nicotiana glauca. The dominant class in the nectar bacterial communities was Gammaproteobacteria. About half of the isolates were novel species (< 97% similarities of the 16S rRNA gene with known species). Using 454-pyrosequencing we demonstrated that nectar microbial community are distinct for each of the plant species while there are no significant differences between nectar microbial communities within nectars taken from different plants of the same species. Primary selection of the nectar bacteria is unclear; it may be affected by variations in the chemical composition of the nectar in each plant. The role of the rich and diverse nectar microflora in the attraction–repulsion relationships between the plant and its nectar consumers has yet to be explored.

Plant coloration undermines herbivorous insect camouflage

Abstract: Summary Themainpointofourhypothesis‘‘colorationundermines camouflage’’ is that many color patterns in plants undermine the camouflage of invertebrate herbivores, especially insects, thus exposing them to predation and causing them to avoid plant organs with unsuitable coloration, to the benefit of the plants. This is a common caseof‘‘theenemyofmyenemyismyfriend’’andavisual parallel of the chemical signals that plants emit to call wasps when attacked by caterpillars. Moreover, this is also a common natural version of the well-known case of industrial melanism, which illustrates the great importance of plant-based camouflage for herbivorous insects and can serve as an independent test for our hypothesis. We claim that the enormous variations in coloration of leaves, petioles and stems as well as of flowers and fruits undermine the camouflage of invertebrate herbivores, especially insects. We assume that the same principle might operate in certain animal– parasite interactions. Our hypothesis, however, does not contrast or exclude other previous or future explanations ofspecifictypesofplantcoloration.Traitssuchascoloration that have more than one type of benefit may be selected for by several agents and evolve more rapidly than ones with a single type of advantage. BioEssays 26:1126–1130, 2004. 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fish as reservoirs and vectors of Vibrio cholerae.

Abstract: Vibrio cholerae, the etiologic agent of cholera, is autochthonous to various aquatic environments, but despite intensive efforts its ecology remains an enigma. Recently, it was suggested that copepods and chironomids, both considered as natural reservoirs of V. cholerae, are dispersed by migratory waterbirds, thus possibly distributing the bacteria between water bodies within and between continents. Although fish have been implicated in the scientific literature with cholera cases, as far as we know, no study actually surveyed the presence of the bacteria in the fish. Here we show for the first time that fish of various species and habitats contain V. cholerae in their digestive tract. Fish (n = 110) were randomly sampled from freshwater and marine habitats in Israel. Ten different fish species sampled from freshwater habitats (lake, rivers and fish ponds), and one marine species, were found to carry V. cholerae. The fish intestine of Sarotherodon galilaeus harboured ca. 5 x 10(3)V. cholerae cfu per 1 gr intestine content-high rates compared with known V. cholerae cfu numbers in the bacteria's natural reservoirs. Our results, combined with evidence from the literature, suggest that fish are reservoirs of V. cholerae. As fish carrying the bacteria swim from one location to another (some fish species move from rivers to lakes or sea and vice versa), they serve as vectors on a small scale. Nevertheless, fish are consumed by waterbirds, which disseminate the bacteria on a global scale. Moreover, V. cholerae isolates had the ability to degrade chitin, indicating a commensal relationship between V. cholerae and fish. Better understanding of V. cholerae ecology can help reduce the times that human beings come into contact with this pathogen and thus minimize the health risk this poses.

The effect of some mediterranean scrubland frugivores upon germination patterns

Abstract: SUMMARY (1) The probabilty of germination, the length of seed dormancy, and the temporal pattern of germination of five bird-dispersed plant species of an eastern Mediterranean scrubland community varied depending on the plant species, on which of seven bird species they were experimentally fed to, on whether or not they remained covered by pulp, and on whether or not the pulp was experimentally removed before sowing. (2) It is proposed that, in order to withstand the passage through the gut, seeds are protected in a way that may delay their germination after defecation and alter the inherent dormancy, depending on the amount of wear the seeds go through while in the gut. The experimental results suggest that frugivory modifies the length of this dormancy so that the evenness of seedling emergence over time increases as more dispersers, each of which treats the seed in its gut differently, ingest the fruit. This may help to spread the risks encountered during germination, as an adaptation to a relatively mesic environment with an unpredictable rain pattern. (3) Rhamnus palaestinus seeds are encased in a sheath with unique features. It fully protects the seeds during passage through the gut of a disperser, and is shed immediately after defecation. Thus protection does not wear out in the gut, yet germination is not impaired and remains totally independent of gut characteristics of the various dispersers.

The Theory of Island Biogeography

Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

SPAdes, a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing ( 7th Annual SFAF Meeting, 2012)

Abstract: The lion's share of bacteria in various environments cannot be cloned in the laboratory and thus cannot be sequenced using existing technologies. A major goal of single-cell genomics is to complement gene-centric metagenomic data with whole-genome assemblies of uncultivated organisms. Assembly of single-cell data is challenging because of highly non-uniform read coverage as well as elevated levels of sequencing errors and chimeric reads. We describe SPAdes, a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler (specialized for single-cell data) and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data). SPAdes generates single-cell assemblies, providing information about genomes of uncultivatable bacteria that vastly exceeds what may be obtained via traditional metagenomics studies. SPAdes is available online ( http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades ). It is distributed as open source software.

Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

Abstract: The influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition. The isotopic composition of the nitrogen in an animal reflects the nitrogen isotopic composition of its diet. The δ^(15)N values of the whole bodies of animals are usually more positive than those of their diets. Different individuals of a species raised on the same diet can have significantly different δ^(15)N values. The variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different species raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets. Different tissues of mice are also enriched in ^(15)N relative to the diet, with the difference between the δ^(15)N values of a tissue and the diet depending on both the kind of tissue and the diet involved. The δ^(15)N values of collagen and chitin, biochemical components that are often preserved in fossil animal remains, are also related to the δ^(15)N value of the diet. The dependence of the δ^(15)N values of whole animals and their tissues and biochemical components on the δ^(15)N value of diet indicates that the isotopic composition of animal nitrogen can be used to obtain information about an animal's diet if its potential food sources had different δ^(15)N values. The nitrogen isotopic method of dietary analysis probably can be used to estimate the relative use of legumes vs non-legumes or of aquatic vs terrestrial organisms as food sources for extant and fossil animals. However, the method probably will not be applicable in those modern ecosystems in which the use of chemical fertilizers has influenced the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in food sources. The isotopic method of dietary analysis was used to reconstruct changes in the diet of the human population that occupied the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico over a 7000 yr span. Variations in the δ^(15)C and δ^(15)N values of bone collagen suggest that C_4 and/or CAM plants (presumably mostly corn) and legumes (presumably mostly beans) were introduced into the diet much earlier than suggested by conventional archaeological analysis.

Life in the “Plastisphere”: Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris

Abstract: Plastics are the most abundant form of marine debris, with global production rising and documented impacts in some marine environments, but the influence of plastic on open ocean ecosystems is poorly understood, particularly for microbial communities. Plastic marine debris (PMD) collected at multiple locations in the North Atlantic was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and next-generation sequencing to characterize the attached microbial communities. We unveiled a diverse microbial community of heterotrophs, autotrophs, predators, and symbionts, a community we refer to as the “Plastisphere”. Pits visualized in the PMD surface conformed to bacterial shapes suggesting active hydrolysis of the hydrocarbon polymer. Small-subunit rRNA gene surveys identified several hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, supporting the possibility that microbes play a role in degrading PMD. Some Plastisphere members may be opportunistic pathogens (the authors, unpublished data) such as specific members of the genus Vib...

The ecology of seeds

Abstract: What determines the number and size of the seeds produced by a plant? How often should it reproduce them? How often should a plant produce them? Why and how are seeds dispersed, and what are the implications for the diversity and composition of vegetation? These are just some of the questions tackled in this wide-ranging review of the role of seeds in the ecology of plants. The authors bring together information on the ecological aspects of seed biology, starting with a consideration of reproductive strategies in seed plants and progressing through the life cycle, covering seed maturation, dispersal, storage in the soil, dormancy, germination, seedling establishment, and regeneration in the field. The text encompasses a wide range of concepts of general relevance to plant ecology, reflecting the central role that the study of seed ecology has played in elucidating many fundamental aspects of plant community function.