Czech White-Nose Syndrome Team together with international collaborators discovered mechanisms of tolerance that protect Palearctic bats from white-nose syndrome (WNS), the disease that caused mass die-off in North America. The discovery raises hope for a better future of bats in North American ecosystems. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by a generalist pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans with the worst possible characteristics of an infectious fungal agent. The generalist nature of the WNS fungus means that it can infect any bat hibernating in a contaminated cave or mine and, moreover, it may remain viable and virulent, waiting for its hosts until the next hibernation period. Harmless to humans, the WNS fungus kills hibernating North American bats in winter. However, loss of voracious insectivorous bats from agricultural ecosystems may result in economic costs required for increased pest control. Without mass die-offs of bats harbouring the WNS agent in Europe, the response to disease is an enigma. To study the survival crossroads, the Czech WNS Team focused on the relationship between pathogen quantity and disease under natural conditions. High disease prevalence together with high fungal loads in absence of bat population declines in Eurasia indicates disease tolerance mechanisms, where hosts limit harm inflicted by the pathogen but do not hinder its growth. The tolerance mechanisms revealed by the Czech WNS Team is a function of bat adaptation to the presence of the pathogen. and Natália Martínková.
The article defends the possibility of using evolutionary schemes in historical sciences, as models for interpreting cultural-historical changes. It points out the possibilities for maintaining certain space within master narratives for explaining the theories of partial developmental processes. The demographic data could, then, be used as hypothetical indicators of the processes of cultural-historical change., Jan Horský., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Příspěvek pojednává o využití výpočetní techniky ve fyzikálních vědách, speciálně o aplikaci evolučních algoritmů v problematice deterministického chaosu. V obou ukázkových studiích jsou použity jak klasické evoluční algoritmy, tak algoritmy moderní. Veškeré údaje byly získány mnohonásobně opakovanými simulacemi, jejichž výsledky jasně poukazují na robustnost a životaschopnost použitých metod. Získaná řešení a postupy k nim vedoucí uvedené v článku jsou diskutovány pouze na úrovni informativního charakteru; pro nastudování plného popisu jsou na konci příspěvku uvedeny potřebné odkazy., Ivan Zelinka, Roman Šenkeřík, Zuzana Oplatková., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Hexamerins are hemocyanin-related haemolymph proteins that are widespread in insects and may accumulate to extraordinarily high concentrations in larval stages. Hexamerins were originally described as storage proteins that provide amino acids and energy for non-feeding periods. However, in recent years other specific functions like cuticle formation, transport of hormones and other organic compounds, or humoral immune defense have been proposed. During evolution, hexamerins diversified according to the divergence of the insect orders. Within the orders, there is a notable structural diversification of these proteins, which probably reflects specific functions. In this paper, the different possible roles of the hexamerins are reviewed and discussed in the context of hexamerin phylogeny., Thorsten Burmester, and Lit
Changes in photosynthetic attributes related to genetic improvement of cotton yield were studied in seven Chinese cotton cultivars widely grown in Xinjiang during the past 30 years. Our results showed that a chlorophyll (Chl) content and net photosynthetic rate (PN) of the 1980s cultivar was the highest among all after 60 days from planting (DAP). However, after 75 DAP, the Chl content, PN, and actual photochemical efficiency of PSII of the old cultivars declined gradually, whereas those of the new cultivars remained relatively high. Compared to the old cultivars, leaves of the new cultivars endured a longer period and their senescence was slower, shoot and boll dry mass was higher, but the root to shoot ratio was lower. The lint yield of the 2000s cultivars was 14.7 and 21.4% higher than that of 1990s and 1980s cultivars, respectively. The high yield of the new cultivars was attributed to a greater number of bolls per unit of area with high lint percentage. We suggested that the improved photosynthetic capacity and the increased ability to deliver photosynthates to reproductive sites during the peak boll-setting stage to boll-opening stage were the key physiological basis in the evolution process of cotton cultivars from 1980s to 2000s for the cotton yield improvement within a short growing period., H. H. Luo, H. L. Zhang, Y. L. Zhang, W. F. Zhang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We prove L2-maximal regularity of the linear non-autonomous evolutionary Cauchy problem \dot u(t) + A(t)u(t) = f(t){\text{ for a}}{\text{.e}}{\text{. }}t \in \left[ {0,T} \right],{\text{ }}u(0) = {u_0}, where the operator A(t) arises from a time depending sesquilinear form a(t, ·, ·) on a Hilbert space H with constant domain V. We prove the maximal regularity in H when these forms are time Lipschitz continuous. We proceed by approximating the problem using the frozen coefficient method developed by El-Mennaoui, Keyantuo, Laasri (2011), El-Mennaoui, Laasri (2013), and Laasri (2012). As a consequence, we obtain an invariance criterion for convex and closed sets of H., Ahmed Sani, Hafida Laasri., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
In the phylogenetic history of photosynthesis the C4 photosynthetic pathway is a rather latě, a nearly recent event. With the background of globál CO2 starvation and given the evolutionary competence, different ecological constraints as water and/or nitrogen deficiency oř salinity could be the driving forces in distinct habitats for selection of genotypes with a CO2 pump. Whether C3-like C3-C4 intermediate species BLS Moricandia arvensis with a less efficient CO2 pump are on the way to C4 photosynthesis remains an open question. Selection for a somewhat improved CO2 concentration mechanism under strong selective pressure seems to be a possible experimental approach to imitate evolutionary steps in adaptation to CO2 starvation.