Description: Deep-sea species are generally thought to be less tolerant of environmental variation than shallow-living species due to the relatively stable conditions in deep waters for most parameters (e.g. temperature, salinity, oxygen, and pH). To explore the potential for deep-sea hermit crabs (Pagurus tanneri) to acclimate to future ocean acidification, we compared their olfactory and metabolic performance under ambient (pH 7.6) and expected future (pH 7.1) conditions. After exposure to reduced pH waters, metabolic rates of hermit crabs increased transiently and olfactory behaviour was impaired, including antennular flicking and prey detection. Crabs exposed to low pH treatments exhibited higher individual variation for both the speed of antennular flicking and speed of prey detection, than observed in the control pH treatment, suggesting that phenotypic diversity could promote adaptation to future ocean acidification.

Description: Acidification, deoxygenation, and warming are escalating changes in coastal waters throughout the world ocean, with potentially severe consequences for marine life and ocean-based economies. To examine the influence of these oceanographic changes on a key biological process, we measured the effects of current and expected future conditions in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem on the fertilization success of the red abalone (Haliotis rufescens). Laboratory experiments were used to assess abalone fertilization success during simultaneous exposure to various levels of seawater pH (gradient from 7.95 to 7.2), dissolved oxygen (DO) (60 and 180 µm/kg SW) and temperature (9, 13, and 18 °C). Fertilization success declined continuously with decreasing pH but dropped precipitously below a threshold near pH 7.55 in cool (9 °C upwelling) to average (13 °C) seawater temperatures. Variation in DO had a negligible effect on fertilization. In contrast, warmer waters (18 °C) often associated with El Nino Southern Oscillation conditions in central California acted antagonistically with decreasing pH, largely reducing the strong negative influence below the pH threshold. Experimental approaches that examine the interactive effects of multiple environmental drivers and also strive to characterize the functional response of organisms along gradients in environmental change are becoming increasingly important in advancing our understanding of the real-world consequences of changing ocean conditions.

Description: Predator-prey interactions often drive ecological patterns and are governed by factors including predator feeding rates, prey behavioral avoidance, and prey structural defenses. Invasive species can also play a large ecological role by disrupting food webs, driving local extinctions, and influencing evolutionary changes in prey defense mechanisms. This study documents a substantial reduction in the behavioral and morphological responses of multiple gastropod species (Nucella lapillus, N. ostrina, Urosalpinx cinerea) to an invasive predatory crab (green crab Carcinus maenas) under ocean acidification conditions. These results suggest that climate-related changes in ocean chemistry may diminish non-lethal effects of predators on prey responses including behavioral avoidance. While snails with varying shell mineralogies were similarly successful at deterring predation, those with primarily aragonitic shells were more susceptible to dissolution and erosion under high CO2 conditions. The varying susceptibility to predation among species with similar ecological roles could indicate that the impacts of invasive species like green crabs could be modulated by the ability of native and invasive prey to withstand ocean acidification conditions.

Description: Energy & Fuels DOI: 10.1021/ef502275j

Description: Deep-sea species are generally thought to be less tolerant of environmental variation than shallow-living species due to the relatively stable conditions in deep waters for most parameters (e.g. temperature, salinity, oxygen, and pH). To explore the potential for deep-sea hermit crabs ( Pagurus tanneri ) to acclimate to future ocean acidification, we compared their olfactory and metabolic performance under ambient (pH ~7.6) and expected future (pH ~7.1) conditions. After exposure to reduced pH waters, metabolic rates of hermit crabs increased transiently and olfactory behaviour was impaired, including antennular flicking and prey detection. Crabs exposed to low pH treatments exhibited higher individual variation for both the speed of antennular flicking and speed of prey detection, than observed in the control pH treatment, suggesting that phenotypic diversity could promote adaptation to future ocean acidification.

Description: The Journal of Physical Chemistry B DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b01991

Description: The phylogenetic relationships among hemosporidian parasites, including the origin of Plasmodium falciparum , the most virulent malaria parasite of humans, have been heavily debated for decades. Studies based on multiple-gene sequences have helped settle many of these controversial phylogenetic issues. However, denser taxon sampling and genome-wide analyses are needed to confidently resolve the evolutionay relationships among hemosporidian parasites. Genome sequences of several Plasmodium parasites are available but only for species infecting primates and rodents. To root the phylogenetic tree of Plasmodium , genomic data from related parasites of birds or reptiles are required. Here, we use a novel approach to isolate parasite DNA from microgametes and describe the first genome of a bird parasite in the sister genus to Plasmodium , Haemoproteus tartakovskyi . Similar to Plasmodium parasites, H. tartakovskyi has a small genome (23.2 Mb, 5,990 genes) and a GC content (25.4%) closer to P. falciparum (19.3%) than to Plasmodium vivax (42.3%). Combined with novel transcriptome sequences of the bird parasite Plasmodium ashfordi , our phylogenomic analyses of 1,302 orthologous genes demonstrate that mammalian-infecting malaria parasites are monophyletic, thus rejecting the repeatedly proposed hypothesis that the ancestor of Laverania parasites originated from a secondary host shift from birds to humans. Genes and genomic features previously found to be shared between P. falciparum and bird malaria parasites, but absent in other mammal malaria parasites, are therefore signatures of maintained ancestral states. We foresee that the genome of H. tartakovskyi will open new directions for comparative evolutionary analyses of malarial adaptive traits.

Description: Convergence of mitochondrial and chloroplastic ANAC017/PAP-dependent retrograde signalling pathways and suppression of programmed cell death Cell Death and Differentiation 24, 955 (June 2017). doi:10.1038/cdd.2017.68 Authors: Olivier Van Aken & Barry J Pogson

Description: Mitigation of emerging infectious diseases that threaten global biodiversity requires an understanding of critical host and pathogen responses to infection. For multihost pathogens where pathogen virulence or host susceptibility is variable, host–pathogen interactions in tolerant species may identify potential avenues for adaptive evolution in recently exposed, susceptible hosts. For example, the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating bats and is responsible for catastrophic declines in some species in North America, where it was recently introduced. Bats in Europe and Asia, where the pathogen is endemic, are only mildly affected. Different environmental conditions among Nearctic and Palearctic hibernacula have been proposed as an explanation for variable disease outcomes, but this hypothesis has not been experimentally tested. We report the first controlled, experimental investigation of response to P. destructans in a tolerant, European species of bat (the greater mouse-eared bat, Myotis myotis ). We compared body condition, disease outcomes and gene expression in control (sham-exposed) and exposed M. myotis that hibernated under controlled environmental conditions following treatment. Tolerant M. myotis experienced extremely limited fungal growth and did not exhibit symptoms of WNS. However, we detected no differential expression of genes associated with immune response in exposed bats, indicating that immune response does not drive tolerance of P. destructans in late hibernation. Variable responses to P. destructans among bat species cannot be attributed solely to environmental or ecological factors. Instead, our results implicate coevolution with the pathogen, and highlight the dynamic nature of the “white-nose syndrome transcriptome.” Interspecific variation in response to exposure by the host (and possibly pathogen) emphasizes the importance of context in studies of the bat-WNS system, and robust characterization of genetic responses to exposure in various hosts and the pathogen should precede any attempts to use particular bat species as generalizable “model hosts.” White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease that causes extremely high mortality in some species of bat, but no mortality in other species. We investigated pathogen loads and molecular mechanisms underlying these different outcomes by comparing disease progression and gene expression in infected bats belonging to a WNS-tolerant species under controlled conditions that result in disease in susceptible bats. We show that the molecular response to the WNS pathogen differs strongly between tolerant and susceptible species, illustrating the importance of context in disentangling host–pathogen interactions.

Description: We previously reported that concurrent ketoconazole, an oral anti-fungal agent and P450 enzyme inhibitor, increased plasma levels of the cytotoxic retinoid, fenretinide (4-HPR) in mice. We have now determined the effects of concurrent ketoconazole on 4-HPR cytotoxic dose-response in four neuroblastoma (NB) cell lines in vitro and on 4-HPR activity against two cell line-derived, subcutaneous NB xenografts (CDX) and three patient-derived NB xenografts (PDX). Cytotoxicity in vitro was assessed by DIMSCAN assay. Xenografted animals were treated with 4-HPR/LXS (240 mg/kg/day) + ketoconazole (38 mg/kg/day) in divided oral doses in cycles of five continuous days a week. In one model, intratumoral levels of 4-HPR and metabolites were assessed by HPLC assay, and in two models intratumoral apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL assay, on Day 5 of the first cycle. Antitumor activity was assessed by Kaplan-Meier event-free survival (EFS). The in vitro cytotoxicity of 4-HPR was not affected by ketoconazole ( P  ≥ 0.06). Ketoconazole increased intratumoral levels of 4-HPR ( P = 0.02), of the active 4-oxo-4-HPR metabolite ( P = 0.04), and intratumoral apoptosis ( P ≤ 0.002), compared to 4-HPR/LXS-alone. Concurrent ketoconazole increased EFS in both CDX models compared to 4-HPR/LXS-alone (P ≤ 0.01). 4-HPR + ketoconazole also increased EFS in PDX models compared to controls ( P  ≤ 0.03). Thus, concurrent ketoconazole decreased 4-HPR metabolism with resultant increases of plasma and intratumoral drug levels and antitumor effects in neuroblastoma murine xenografts. These results support the clinical testing of concurrent ketoconazole and oral fenretinide in neuroblastoma. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.