Miscanthus is one of the most promising bioenergy crops with high photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE). It is unclear how nitrogen (N) influences the photosynthesis in Miscanthus. Among three Miscanthus genotypes, the net photosynthetic rate (PN) under the different light intensity and CO2 concentration was measured at three levels of N: 0, 100, and 200 kg ha-1. The concentrations of chlorophyll, soluble protein, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) large subunit, leaf anatomy and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) in the leaf were analyzed to probe the response of photosynthesis in Miscanthus genotypes to N levels. PN in all genotypes rose significantly as N application increased. The initial slope of response curves of PN to Ci was promoted by N application in all genotypes. Both stomatal conductance and Ci were increased with increased N supply, indicating that stomatal factors played an important role in increasing PN. At a given Ci, PN in all genotypes was enhanced by N, implying that nonstomatal factors might also play an important role in increasing PN. Miscanthus markedly regulated N investment into PEPC rather than the Rubisco large subunit under higher N conditions. Bundle sheath leakiness of CO2 was constant at about 0.35 for all N levels. Therefore, N enhanced the photosynthesis of Miscanthus mainly by increasing stomatal conductance and PEPC concentration., X.-P. Feng ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Changes in behaviour and cognition have been associated with latent infection from the apicomplexan protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) in both animal and human studies. Further, neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia have also been associated with latent toxoplasmosis. Previously, we found no association between T. gondii immunoglobulin G antibody (IgG) seropositivity and depression in human adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years (n = 1 846) in a sample representative of the United States collected by the Centers for Disease Control as part of a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from three datasets collected between 1999-2004. In the present study, we used NHANES data collected between 2009 and 2012 that included subjects aged 20 to 80 years (n = 5 487) and used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression with the overall aim of testing the stability of the results of the prior study. In the current study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii was 13%. The percentage of subjects reporting clinical levels of depression assessed with the PHQ-9 was 8%. As before, we found no association between T. gondii IgG seroprevalence and depression (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.81-1.25; p = 0.944) while controlling for sex, educational attainment, race-ethnicity, age, poverty-to-income ratio and cigarette smoking. We also found no positive associations between anti-T. gondii antibody titre and depression (OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.96-1.06; p = 0.868). Moreover, we found no association between T. gondii seroprevalence or antibody titre and suicidal ideation (seroprevalence: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = .85-1.75; p = 0.277, titre: OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.98-1.14; p = 0.177)., Defining depression to also include subjects currently taking antidepressant medication even with non-elevated questionnaires did not find evidence of a positive association between latent toxoplasmosis and depression. In the present study, neither T. gondii seroprevalence nor anti-T. gondii antibody titre was positively associated with depression or suicidal ideation among subjects aged 20 to 80 years., Shawn D. Gale, Andrew N. Berrett, Bruce Brown, Lance D. Erickson, Dawson W. Hedges., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) is an intracellular parasite that can cause ongoing latent infection persisting for the duration of a non-definitive host's life. Affecting approximately one-third of the world's population, latent toxoplasmosis has been associated with neuropsychological outcomes and a previous report suggested an association between latent toxoplasmosis and adult height. Given the large number of people with latent toxoplasmosis and its potential associations with human height, we sought to better understand the association between latent toxoplasmosis and human morphology by evaluating seropositivity for T. gondii and multiple body measures reported in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III) and in the more recent continuous NHANES data sets from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for which data on T. gondii are available. In these analyses, latent toxoplasmosis was not associated with any of the body measures assessed in the NHANES datasets even after taking into account interactions between latent toxoplasmosis and testosterone suggesting that in these samples, latent toxoplasmosis is not associated with adult morphology including height., Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Bruce L. Brown, Dawson W. Hedges., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Climate change may facilitate shifts in the ranges and the spread of insect pests, but a warming climate may also affect herbivorous insects adversely if it disrupts the locally adapted synchrony between the phenology of insects and that of their host plant. The ability of a pest species to colonize new areas depends on its ability to adjust the timing of phenological events in its life cycle, particularly at high latitudes where there is marked seasonality in temperature and day length. Here we incubated eggs of three species of geometrid moth, Epirrita autumnata, Operophtera brumata and Erannis defoliaria from different geographical populations (E. autumnata and O. brumata from Northern Finland, E. autumnata and E. defoliaria from Southern Finland and all three species from Germany) in a climate chamber at a constant temperature to determine the relative importance of geographic origin in the timing of egg hatch measured in terms of cumulative temperature sums (degree days above 5°C, DD5); i.e. the relative importance of local adaptation versus phenotypic plasticity in the timing of egg hatch. In all three species, eggs from northern populations required a significantly lower temperature sum for hatching than eggs from southern populations, but the differences between them in temperature sum requirements varied considerably among species, with the differences being largest for the earliest hatching and northernmost species, E. autumnata, and smallest for the southern, late-hatching E. defoliaria. In addition, the difference in hatch timing between the E. autumnata eggs from Southern Finland and Germany was many times greater than the difference between the two Finnish populations of E. autumnata, despite the fact that the geographical distances between these populations is similar. We discuss how these differences in hatching time may be explained by the differences in hatch-budburst synchrony and its importance for different moth species and populations. We also briefly reflect on the significance of photoperiod, which is not affected by climate change. It is a controller that works parallel or in addition to temperature sum both for egg hatch in moths and bud burst of their host plants., Julia Fält-Nardmann, Tero Klemola, Mechthild Roth, Kai Ruohomäki, Kari Saikkonen., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Už 4,5 miliónu let nás vyvýšená hlava, vpřímená postava a bipední lokomoce odlišuje od většiny savců. Tento článek zvažuje důvody pro tuto evoluční změnu (např. tlak prostředí), její známé přednosti, ale také rizika. Bipední hominin byl ve srovnání se zvířecími predátory i kořistí pomalejší, jeho chrup jako zbraň či nástroj byl stále méně použitelný a tekutiny musel přenášet. Ale vzpřímení postavy uvolnilo lidskou ruku pro produkci artefaktů - nástrojů. Technologie, která původně umožnila přežití, v průběhu evoluce stimuluje strmý demografický růst a ten zpětně vyžaduje další technologické i organizační inovace. Dnes už by bez nich lidé jako savci střední velikosti s velkou spotřebou a produkcí odpadu nemohli v počtu řádově miliard existovat., For 4.5 million years, our raised head, upright stature and bipedal locomotion have distinguished us from the majority of other mammals. The paper evaluates the reasons for this evolutionary change (such as environmental pressure), its advantages but also risks. Compared to animal predators and prey, the bipedal hominid was slower and his dentition less usable as a tool or weapon. However, the raised stature made the hand free for production of artifacts - tools. Technology, which enabled survival at the beginning, stimulated steep demographic growth during later evolution., and Jiří Svoboda.
Insects produce pigment and structural colours mainly for camouflage, signaling, physical protection or temperature regulation, and colour patterns can provide information about individual quality. Although the evolutionary function and nature of the variability in colouration are well known for many invertebrate taxa, there is little information on this topic for ants. We studied individual variation in the melanin-based colour traits of workers of the red wood ant, Formica rufa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), from 20 colonies in Southern Finland and revealed the type of colouration in this species. First, using the threshold approach we distinguished between continuous and discrete variations. Furthermore, the analyses affirmed nine discrete morphs in terms of the colouration on the head and eight on the pronotum, while only continuous variation were found on the other body parts. Measuring the size of a particular colour pattern, the intensity of colour expression (degree of melanization) and statistical analyses allowed an assessment of the intra-individual variation in both discrete and continuous patterns. The results revealed substantial modularity in the above mentioned colouration traits. In workers of F. rufa there were individuals with a dark head and light coloured thorax and vice a versa. Size of the dark pigment colour patterns exhibited less modularity than the degree of melanization. Finally, the interrelation between colouration traits and individual body size revealed their size-dependent origin. Small individuals had relatively larger areas of colour on the head and thorax than big individuals. These results are likely to facilitate further taxonomical and ecological studies on red wood ants, as they show it is possible to assess colouration traits in ants. However, more studies are needed on the function of polymorphism and modular colouration in this group of ants., Oksana Skaldina, Jouni Sorvari., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Nález kolonie mravence lužního na dubu na hrázi rybníka Vrkoč posouvá hranici recentního výskytu tohoto druhu o 15 km severozápadním směrem. Podle dosavadních terénních šetření jde o izolovanou kolonii, jejíž původ je nejasný. Obývaná lokalita se přitom velmi liší od preferovaného biotopu v podobě lesních porostů, protože jde o solitérní strom. Solitérní stromy či aleje přitom podle starších výzkumů využívá pouze 7 % kolonií tohoto druhu., A new colony of the ant species Liometopum microcephalum was found on the solitary oak tree growing on the dam of the pond Vrkoč near Pohořelice (southern Moravia). This discovery extends its recent distribution in the Czech Republic about 15 km to the north-west. The new colony is isolated and unusual in respect that only 7 % of south Moravian colonies are living on solitary trees or on trees in alleys., Antonín Krása., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Sklenobýl bezlistý (Epipogium aphyllum) patří mezi nejvzácnější druhy naší flóry. Roste v bučinách a jehličnatých lesích s humózní půdou, často na lesních prameništích. Ještě donedávna byl v Čechách hodnocen jako nezvěstný. V r. 2006 se ale podařilo objevit několik malých lokalit na Šumavském Boubíně, poté v r. 2008 i jedna lokalita v Krkonoších. V červnu r. 2013 v náplavech Jizery a hned u cesty nedaleko Kořenova se podařilo objevit další dvě mikrolokality tohoto ohroženého druhu. Bylo by velmi povzbuzující domnívat se, že nárůst počtu lokalit nejen sklenobýlu, ale i jiných ohrožených druhů indikuje zlepšující se stav prostředí., Epipogium aphyllum is one of the rarest plant species of the Czech flora. It grows in humus-rich soil in beech and spruce forests, often in the vicinity of forest springs. The species has been considered missing in Bohemia until recent discoveries of a few sites in Boubín in the Šumava Mts. (Bohemian Forest, 2006) and in the Krkonoše Mts. (Giant Mts., 2008). Two new populations were found in the Giant Mts. in June 2013 - in alluvial deposits of the Jizera river and along the forest road close to the Kořenov village., and Pavla Čížková, Kamila Lencová, Pavel Hubený.
The tiny land snail V. geyeri is a highly endangered species, exclusively inhabiting alkaline tree-less spring fens. After two unexpected findings in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, we explored this region more properly and found another 18 sites, including Nature Reserve Řeka with the richest known European population. V. geyeri is threatened mainly by hydrological changes, eutrophication and cessation of traditional management practices. and Veronika Schenková, Michal Horsák.