Showing papers in "Biological Reviews in 1987"

Nitrogen excretion in marine and fresh-water crustacea

Abstract: Summary 1. The major characteristic of aquatic Crustacea is ammonotelism as shown by the relative importance of various nitrogenous end-products of their nitrogen metabolism. 2. In contrast to urico- and ureo-genesis pathways, ammoniogenesis pathways have received recent attention; some specific enzymes such as glutamate dehydrogenase, AMP-deaminase and glutaminase are now admitted to play a possible key role in ammoniogenesis of various crustacean species. 3. Processes involved in ammonia output through the gill epithelium (diffusion and/or ionic exchanges) are discussed though few data related to Crustacea are as yet available compared to those obtained in ammonotelic fishes. 4. The effects of some environmental factors as well as the physiological state of animals on nitrogen excretion of Crustacea are envisaged. The effects of temperature, salinity and NH4 concentration in the external medium are discussed first, followed by the changes in nitrogen excretion associated with the moult cycle, the nutritional state of animals and possible neuroendocrine control. It is demonstrated that the response of the excretion rate to these factors presents various patterns according to the species, its osmoregulatory abilities and its body reserves. Changes can also occur in the requisite metabolic pathways, thus increasing the difficulty of generalization. 5. In spite of the great diversity encountered within Crustacea an attempt to bring out general trends of their nitrogen excretion is proposed. 6. The present review is focused on metabolic and physiological aspects of crustacean nitrogen excretion but the significance of nitrogen release in nutrient regeneration in marine and fresh-water ecosystems is foreseen.

Control of electron flux through the respiratory chain in mitochondria and cells

Abstract: Summary 1 To answer the question ‘What controls the rate of respiration?’ requires a clear definition of control and an explicit description of the limits of the system to be considered. In this review we use a neutral definition of control in which A controls B if changes in A cause changes in B. A useful system to define when discussing the control of respiration consists of the electron transport chain, the H+-ATPase, the adenine nucleotide carrier, the intramitochondrial adenine nucleotide and phosphate pools, δp and the proton leak across the mitochondrial inner membrane. 2 Controls operating within this system are designated internal controls and many of them are fairly well characterized. Several models have been advanced to describe the rates of these internal processes in isolated mitochondria, including control of respiration rate by cytochrome oxidase with all other steps near to equilibrium, control by the adenine nucleotide carrier or control by the extent of displacement of individual reactions from equilibrium. More recently, analysis using control theory has shown that in the resting state (state 4) most control over flux is exerted by the leak of protons through the inner membrane, whereas in more active, phosphorylating states (up to state 3) control is distributed between a number of steps, including the proton leak, the adenine nucleotide carrier and cytochrome oxidase. This approach seems a very useful framework within which to pose further questions. 3 This system may be treated as a ‘black box’ interacting with its environment (the rest of the mitochondrion and the experimental cuvette or living cell) through the redox states of NAD, Q and O2 and through the phosphorylation state of the extramitochondrial adenine nucleotides. Very few external effectors cross the system boundary; the only well-characterized ones are long-chain fatty acyl-CoA, which inhibits the adenine nucleotide carrier, and fatty acids, which activate a specific uncoupling protein found only in the inner membrane of mitochondria from brown adipose tissue. At this level respiration rate is determined only by the internal properties of the ‘black box’, by the redox states of NAD, Q and O2, and by the phosphorylation status of the extramitochondrial adenine nucleotide pool. 4 Within a cell the rate of respiration is controlled primarily by the rates of reactions feeding electrons to the electron transport chain (through their effects on NADH/NAD and QH2/Q ratios) and by the rates of reactions consuming or producing ATP (through the cytosolic phosphorylation potential or ATP/ADP ratio). Control of reducing equivalent supply occurs through availability of oxidizable substrates (determined by diet and hormonal status), through regulation of pathways such as glycolysis or fatty acid catabolism and, importantly, through Ca2+ activation of intramitochondrial dehydrogenases. 5 Hormonal control over respiration can occur at all the levels mentioned. Hormones may alter the kinetic properties of the oxidative phosphorylation system by altering the concentrations of individual proteins or by altering their kinetic properties either by affecting the lipid environment or, possibly, more directly. Important controls by hormones occur through changes in ATP demand altering the cytoplasmic adenine nucleotide pool and by changes in free Ca2+ concentration in the mitochondrial matrix, altering the activity of dehydrogenases and the supply of electrons to NAD and Q. Hormones also affect the supply of reducing equivalents to the mitochondria by their catabolic or anabolic effects on other pathways.

Progress and competition in macroevolution

Abstract: (4) Evolutionary trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( 5 ) Increased effectiveness of adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( I ) Competition and natural selection . . . . . . . . . . (2) The evolutionary effects of interspecific competition . . . . . . . (3) The effects of interspecific competition on community structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( I ) Extinction and competition . . . . . . . . . . . (2) The Red Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I11 . Competition in microevolution

Sunset and the orientation behaviour of migrating birds

Abstract: Summary 1. Migratory birds integrate information from a wide array of environmental sources. As our knowledge of migratory orientation depends heavily upon the results of cage-experiments with nocturnal migrants, it is essential that the results of these cage studies be interpreted in the light of field observations of migratory behaviour and experiments with free-flying migrants. When this is done, the impression emerges that night-migrating birds integrate directional information prior to departure, probably during the transition between daylight and darkness. At this time, information gained from the sun, in conjunction with other references, becomes especially valuable. 2. Despite intensive work with a few species, how migrants integrate information in the selection and maintenance of a direction is not well understood. The relationship between magnetic stimuli and solar cues at sunset in the selection process, for example, remains to be resolved, as does the contribution of skylight polarization patterns at sunset. Once a migratory heading is selected, birds probably use the stars or winds aloft to maintain that direction. How migrants integrate information is largely a matter of unravelling the complex causal relations among the different environmental stimuli that serve as orientation cues. Imagine a hypothetical migrant that departs on a migratory flight around the time of sunset. Given the uncertain relationship among variables (orientation cues) that might influence her migratory orientation, a path diagram is a useful device for displaying graphically the pattern of causal relations among the set of variables (see Fig. 1). This technique is adopted from path analysis, which is a statistical method developed by Sewall Wright for studying the direct and indirect causal relations among variables (see Kerlinger & Pedhazur, 1973). The pattern depicted in the figure is less a specific model of causal relations than it is a summary of possible relationships among the several cues based on current understanding. Causal flow in this ‘model’ is unidirectional, i.e. at any given point in time a variable cannot be both a cause and an effect of another variable. For example, variable 3 is dependent on variables 1 and/or 2, and is one of the independent variables in relation to variable 5 (orientation of migratory activity). Although the value of path analysis to the study of migratory orientation may be largely heuristic at this point, ‘one virtue of the method is that in order to apply it the researcher is required to make explicit the theoretical framework within which he operates’ (Kerlinger & Pedhazur, 1973). For instance, path diagrams (and path analysis, to the degree that correlations between variables can be specified) would help researchers study (i) the apparent redundancy built into the orientation process (see Fig. 1), (ii) alternative or competing causal models of orientation and navigation, or (iii) the ontogenetic changes that affect the relationship among orientation variables. Imagine, for example, how path coefficients might change in value with migratory experience. 3. Migrants probably redetermine preferred directions soon after landing or shortly before their next departure rather than while aloft. Cage-orientation results as well as observations of free-flying migrants suggest that solar-related information is involved in the morning orientation of ongoing migratory flight and possibly the re-determination of direction following night-time displacement. 4. Evidence is not clear on whether migrants respond to sunset by constant-angle orientation (menotaxis) or constant-azimuth orientation. 5. How migrants correctly identify sunset as a reference stimulus is an unresolved question. Identification might be based upon the characteristic spectral distribution of sunset, its pattern of illumination, or some other feature, such as the characteristic pattern of skylight polarization at sunset. 6. Several lines of evidence suggest that migrants learn to use the setting sun and associated skylight features as orientation cues. 7. The setting sun functions not only as a source of directional information but also as an environmental stimulus that influences the likelihood of migratory activity.

Sex determination in crustacea

Abstract: . . . . . . . . 2.4.Data from crossing two subspecies. ' 443 3 . Polygenic systems of sex determination . 443 3 . 1 . Sex inversion in Idotea balthica . ' 444 ( a ) Results from inbreeding in different subspecies ' 444 (b) Results from breeding two subspecies . 444 3.2. Sex inversion in terrestrial isopods. 446 3 .3 . Monogeny under genetic influence . 447 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( a ) Sex ratios bias under the influence of colour genes ' 447 (b) Influence of inbreeding on the sex ratio of copepods . . . . . 448 (c) Monogeny in Asellus aquaticus ' 448 4. Influence of epigenetic factors on sex determination . . . . . . . 448 4.1. Influence of environmental factors on sex determination . . . . . 449 4.1. I . Biotic factors ' 449 ( a ) Influence of the host on sex determination in labile gonochorists 449 (b) Sex change in hermaphrodite species . . . . . . . . 449 (a) Anilocra frontalis . . . . . . . . . . . . 449 . . . .

Character diagnosis, fossils and the origin of tetrapods

Abstract: SUMMARY I. The traditional view of the origin of tetrapod vertebrates is that they are descendants of fossil osteolepiform fish, of which Eusthenopteron is best known. In recent years both that conclusion and the methodology by which it has been reached have been challenged by practitioners of cladistic analysis. Particularly a recent review by Rosen et al. (1981) claims that Dipnoi (lungfish) are the sister-group of the Tetrapoda, that Osteolepiformes is a non-taxon and that Eusthenopteron is more distant from tetrapods than are Dipnoi, coelacanths and probably the fossil Porolepiformes. We attempt to refute all these concludions by use of the same cladistic technique. 2. We accept that all the above-mentioned groups, together with some less well-known taxa, can be united as Sarcopterygii by means of shared derived (apomorph) characters. We also agree that Porolepiformes and Actinistia (coelacanths) can be characterized as valid taxa. The primitive and enigmatic fossil fish Powichthys is accepted as representing the plesiomorph sister-group of true porolepiforms. 3. Only two apomorph features, the course of the jaw adductor muscles and the position of incurrent and excurrent nostrils, appear to unite all the fish, living and fossil, currently regarded as Dipnoi. The characteristic tooth plates and the presence of petrodentine both exclude important primitive fossil forms. 4. Contrary to the opinion of Rosen et al., Osteolepiformes can be characterized — by the arrangement of bones forming the cheek plate, the presence of basal scutes to the fins and by the unjointed radials of the median fins. However, if these are true autapomorphies they exclude any osteolepiform from direct tetrapod ancestry. 5. Tetrapoda is a monophyletic group characterized by ten or more autapomorphies, including the bones of the cheek plate, a stapes and fenestra ovalis, and a series of characters of the appendicular skeleton. 6. Tetrapods have a true choana (internal nostril). We accept that the posterior (excurrent) nostril of Dipnoi is the homologue of the tetrapod choana. However, we assert that the posterior nostril of all bony fish is the homologue of the choana. This assertion would be refuted if any fish showed separate posterior nostril and choana. We reject the claim that this ‘three nostril condition’ occurred in porolepiforms and osteolepiforms. The evidence for a choana in porolepiforms is inadequate. Osteolepiforms had a true choana, characterized as in tetrapods by its relationship to the bones of the palate, but no third nostril. Dipnoans are not choanate. 7. Following cladistic practice, the relationship of the extant taxa is established first. Dipnoi are thus shown to be the living sister-group of tetrapods, but only on ‘soft anatomy’ characters unavailable in fossils. Coelacanths are the living sister-group of the taxon so formed. 8. The relationship of the fossil taxa to the extant sarcopterygians is then considered. The synapomorphy scheme proposed by Rosen et al. is discussed at length. Virtually all the characters they use to exclude close relationship of Eusthenopteron (and hence all osteolepiforms) to tetrapods, in favour of coelacanths and dipnoans, are invalid. 9. A series of synapomorphies uniting osteolepiforms and tetrapods is proposed, including a true choana (hence the taxon Choanata), the histology of the teeth, and a number of characters of the humerus. The recently discovered fossil Youngolepis, which lacks a choana, represents the sister-group of the Choanata, and is not uniquely close to Powichthys. The latter, as a porolepiform (s.l.) is a member of the sister-group to Choanata plus Youngolepis. 10. Our cladistic analysis suggests that all the extinct taxa considered are more closely related to tetrapods than are the Dipnoi. Moreover fossil evidence suggests that Dipnoi, considered as an extant taxon, may not even be the living sister-group of Tetrapoda. Early fossil dipnoans appear to have been marine fish without specific adaptations for air breathing. If so the apparent synapomorphies of Dipnoi and Tetrapoda may be homoplastic — the insistence on grouping extant taxa first would then have yielded an invalid inference.

Structure and development of the lateral line

Abstract: (A) Teleosts . . . . . . . . (B) Elasmobranchs . . . . . . (C) Cyclostomes . . . . . . . (D) Other fish groups . . . . . . (E) Ampullary and tuberous organs . . . (F) Amphibians . . . . . . . (G) Growth of cupulae . . . . . . (H) Other structures . . . . . . V. Development . . . . . . . . (A) Teleosts . . . . . . . . (B) Elasmobranchs . . . . . . (C) Amphibians . . . . . . . IV. Structdre and ultrastructure of the neuromast. .

The roles of seasonality, host synchrony, and behaviour in the evolutions and distributions of nest parasites in hymenoptera (insecta). with special reference to bees (apoidea)

Abstract: CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nematophagous fungi with particular reference to their ecology

Abstract: ( I ) Endoparasites . 247 ( a ) Encysting spores . 247 (b) Adhesive conidia . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 (c) Ingested conidia . 249 (2) Predators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 ( a ) Unmodified adhesive hyphae . . . . . . . . . . 252 (b) Adhesive branches . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 (c) Adhesive nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 ( d ) Adhesive knobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 (e) Non-constricting rings . . . . . . . . . . . 254 (f) Constricting rings . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 I11 . Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 ( I ) Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The origin of the spinning apparatus in spiders

Abstract: Summary 1 Previous attempts to explain the evolution of spider silk have relied heavily on conjecture. The formulation of testable historical hypotheses to replace such speculation is discussed. 2 The importance of phylogenetic reconstructions and other historical hypotheses for use in generating and testing hypotheses concerning the evolution of specific adaptations is examined. Recent ideas on arachnid phylogeny are reviewed and their relevance to the problem of silk evolution in spiders is explored. 3 Evidence from the analysis of three historical problems (origin of spinnerets, origin of silk glands, original selective pressure favouring evolution of silk) is reviewed from three different frames of reference (in-group analysis, out-group analysis, convergence analysis). Several lines of evidence are found which suggest that silk use originated in spiders due to selective pressures associated with reproduction (specifically, the transfer of sperm or the protection of eggs). 4 The prevalence of segmental appendages retained for use in manipulating genital products in both arachnids and non-arachnid arthropods and the probable placement of spinnerets near the genital opening in ancestral spiders suggest that spinnerets represent modified gonopods. 5 The most primitive types of silk glands are retained in virtually all spiders, in part, for use in the construction of sperm webs and egg sacs. Similar silk glands are found near the genital opening in many male spiders and used in building a portion of the sperm web. 6 The silk of adult arthropods other than spiders is used largely in manipulating or protecting sex cells. If there are multiple functions, use in reproduction is typically one of them. Thus, there is evidence for strong selective pressure favouring the evolution of silk for use in reproduction. 7 Two hypotheses are proposed which are consistent with the conclusion that silk in spiders evolved for reproductive needs (the spermatophore-sperm web and egg sac hypotheses). Testable predictions of each hypothesis are proposed.

Nutrient transport by the crustacean gastrointestinal tract: recent advances with vesicle techniques

Abstract: Summary 1. Techniques are described for producing purified brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) of crustacean hepatopancreas which can be used to examine the characteristics of solute transport at the apical pole of hepatopancreatic epithelial cells. 2. Hepatopancreatic BBMV illustrated Na-dependent, carrier-mediated sugar transport which was electrogenic and sensitive to pH. Increased proton concentration lowered the Michaelis-Menten constant for glucose transport and increased the apparent diffusional permeability of the membrane to sugar. 3. Transports of L-alanine and L-lysine by hepatopancreatic BBMV were Na-independent, carrier-mediated, and strongly sensitive to transmembrane electrical potential after protonation at acidic pH. L-alanine and L-lysine were competitive inhibitors of each other for influx into BBMV and also illustrated trans-stimulation, suggesting that both amino acids use the same transfer mechanism. L-Leucine was a non-competitive inhibitor of L-lysine influx and may employ a distinct Na-independent transport process. 4. L-glutamate transport after protonation at acidic pH was Na-dependent, suggesting that a different transport mechanism was responsible for its movement across hepatopancreatic BBMV than that facilitating the transfer of alanine or lysine. 5. Preliminary experiments indicate the presence of Na/H antiport in hepatopancreatic BBMV, providing, for the first time, a possible mechanism for gastrointestinal luminal acidification in crustaceans. 6. A proposed model for nutrient transport by crustacean hepatopancreatic BBMV is presented which suggests that transapical transfers of both sugars and amino acids are strongly influenced by in vivo luminal acidification. Luminal protons have at least two major effects on nutrient transport in these animals: (a) titration of sugar transport proteins with subsequent stimulatory effects on influx kinetic constants; (b) protonation of luminal amino-acid-charged moieties and conversion into appropriate substrates for transport by either Na-dependent or Na-independent, membrane-potential-sensitive carrier proteins.

Cell selection in development.

Abstract: Summary Cell selection is recognized to be the principal mechanism in the generation of the immune response The role of cell selection in other developmental systems is considered here, with emphasis on the morphogenesis of the vertebrate limb, the formation of pigment pattern in the pelt of mammals and the changes that occur in the human erythrocyte at the time of birth

Age-related alterations in human chromosome composition and DNA content in vitro during senescence.

Abstract: Summary Different theories of ageing involving somatic mutations, error catastrophe, compensation and repair, and programmed ageing were subjected to analysis for their feasibility from experimental data. Due to the relative difficulty of carrying out longitudinal studies in human subjects in vivo and the long periods involved, most of these experiments dealt with in vitro systems. I. Fibroblast cells in culture were found to be ideal materials for demonstrating senescence for a particular species and at the terminal end the cultures showed certain changes associated with age. II. It appears that the ideas regarding the alterations in DNA content at the terminal stages of the culture or otherwise are related to the tissues concerned and the duration of the cultured condition. III. The importance of DNA content specially related to the concept of stability of the DNA strand supports indirectly the error catastrophe theories. The rate of net DNA synthesis, the size of the replicon and duration of S phase is reported not to change during in vitro ageing. The regulation system of DNA replication may however change, but this alteration does not affect the DNA replication machinery. Following cell fusion studies it has been hypothesized that senescent human diploid fibroblasts contain a diffusible inhibitor which blocks cells at G1 phase. Some immortal cell lines like HeLa and SV40-transformed cells would contain a dominant inducer that could override or inactivate the putative inhibitor, the nature of which is not yet clear. IV. DNA repair competence of fibroblast cultures is reported to decline near the end of in vitro life-span. However, it has been noted that the human skin fibroblasts from both young and old donors are equally proficient in repairing damage by UV light. V. The replication patterns of chromosomes from both senescent embryonic fibroblasts and early-passage adult skin fibroblasts were essentially identical. There were very few differences between the early-passage embryonic and adult skin cells. It was concluded that the terminal replication pattern of fibroblasts changes very little with cellular ageing. VI. A statistically significant increase in sister chromatid exchange frequency has been reported during the terminal part of fibroblast cultures. VII. Electron-microscopic studies have confirmed the increased organization of microfillaments into bundles in senescent cells. The presence of a rigid cytoskeletal structure may contribute in part to the inability of such cells to replicate. VIII. Age-related increase in nuclear proteins was attributed to accumulation of residual acid proteins. Densitometric analysis showed that histone HI was low in late-passage cells and H4 fraction increased relatively at the terminal phase. IX. In contrast to age-matched controls, fibroblasts cultured from progeria and Werner's syndrome undergo significantly low population doubling. Metaphase plates from these patients demonstrated a much higher frequency of chromosomal abnor malities than normal fibroblasts. Frequency of sister chromatid exchange in cells from Fanconi's anaemia did not show any significant change as compared with control sets. X. Significantly lower Feulgen DNA values have been recorded from lymphocytes of the elderly as compared with younger ones, indicated by hypodiploidy as well as by the individual amounts of euchromatin and heterochromatin. However, later data from flow-cytometric measurements indicated that DNA content was the same for all age groups. XI. The UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis in lymphocytes of 80 to 90 year-old individuals was reduced as compared to younger persons. However, the rate of repair of DNA strand breaks is apparently constant in all the age groups. XII. Increase in aneuploidy from lymphocyte cultures of aged individuals has been recorded by many workers. XIII. Significantly lower titres of serine, threonine, histidine, ornithine and lysine have been observed in aged persons, and only the first three decreased equally in both sexes. Some of the amino acids were influenced by sex hormones. XIV. Study of the frequency of spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges showed that neither intra-individual variation between replicate cultures established from the same blood sample nor variation among samples from the same individual initiated at different times was significant. However, sensitivity to induced sister chromatid exchange is reported to increase with age.