scholarly journals Endocytosis and Digestion in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants of the Family Sarraceniaceae

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Marianne Koller-Peroutka ◽  
Stefanie Krammer ◽  
Anselm Pavlik ◽  
Manfred Edlinger ◽  
Ingeborg Lang ◽  
...  

Highly evolved carnivorous plants secrete digestive enzymes for degradation of trapped animals and absorb whole macromolecules from their prey by means of endocytosis. (1) Background: In the pitcher-plant family Sarraceniaceae, the production of enzymes is dubious and no evidence for endocytosis is known so far. (2) Methods: Heliamphora nutans, Darlingtonia californica, and nine taxa of Sarracenia are tested for cuticular pores, and for protease and endocytosis of the fluorescent protein analogue FITC-BSA, after 10–48 h of stimulation. (3) Results: Cuticular pores as a prerequisite for enzyme secretion and nutrient uptake are present in all tested species. Permeable cells form clusters in the inner epidermis of the pitchers, but are only little differentiated from impermeable epidermis cells. Proteases are found in S. psittacina, S. leucophylla, S. minor, S. oreophila, S. alabamensis, H. nutans, D. californica lacking only in S. flava and in S. purpurea ssp. purpurea, S. purpurea ssp. venosa, S. rosea, where enzyme production is possibly replaced by degradation via the extraordinary diverse inquiline fauna. S. leucophylla, S. minor, S. oreophila exhibit both protease production and endocytosis; S. psittacina, S. alabamensis, H. nutans, D. californica produce proteases only; no single species shows endocytosis without protease production. (4) Conclusions: Protease secretion seems to be a prerequisite for endocytotic nutrient uptake. Transport of FITC-BSA absorbed by endocytosis towards the vascular tissue of the trap leaves suggests that endocytosis of nutrients is more than a side effect of enzyme secretion.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 911-927
Author(s):  
Lucia Muggia ◽  
Yu Quan ◽  
Cécile Gueidan ◽  
Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi ◽  
Martin Grube ◽  
...  

AbstractLichen thalli provide a long-lived and stable habitat for colonization by a wide range of microorganisms. Increased interest in these lichen-associated microbial communities has revealed an impressive diversity of fungi, including several novel lineages which still await formal taxonomic recognition. Among these, members of the Eurotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes usually occur asymptomatically in the lichen thalli, even if they share ancestry with fungi that may be parasitic on their host. Mycelia of the isolates are characterized by melanized cell walls and the fungi display exclusively asexual propagation. Their taxonomic placement requires, therefore, the use of DNA sequence data. Here, we consider recently published sequence data from lichen-associated fungi and characterize and formally describe two new, individually monophyletic lineages at family, genus, and species levels. The Pleostigmataceae fam. nov. and Melanina gen. nov. both comprise rock-inhabiting fungi that associate with epilithic, crust-forming lichens in subalpine habitats. The phylogenetic placement and the monophyly of Pleostigmataceae lack statistical support, but the family was resolved as sister to the order Verrucariales. This family comprises the species Pleostigma alpinum sp. nov., P. frigidum sp. nov., P. jungermannicola, and P. lichenophilum sp. nov. The placement of the genus Melanina is supported as a lineage within the Chaetothyriales. To date, this genus comprises the single species M. gunde-cimermaniae sp. nov. and forms a sister group to a large lineage including Herpotrichiellaceae, Chaetothyriaceae, Cyphellophoraceae, and Trichomeriaceae. The new phylogenetic analysis of the subclass Chaetothyiomycetidae provides new insight into genus and family level delimitation and classification of this ecologically diverse group of fungi.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1377
Author(s):  
Adriano M. Gigante ◽  
Francisco Olivença ◽  
Maria João Catalão ◽  
Paula Leandro ◽  
José Moniz-Pereira ◽  
...  

Double-stranded DNA bacteriophages end their lytic cycle by disrupting the host cell envelope, which allows the release of the virion progeny. Each phage must synthesize lysis proteins that target each cell barrier to phage release. In addition to holins, which permeabilize the cytoplasmic membrane, and endolysins, which disrupt the peptidoglycan (PG), mycobacteriophages synthesize a specific lysis protein, LysB, capable of detaching the outer membrane from the complex cell wall of mycobacteria. The family of LysB proteins is highly diverse, with many members presenting an extended N-terminus. The N-terminal region of mycobacteriophage Ms6 LysB shows structural similarity to the PG-binding domain (PGBD) of the φKZ endolysin. A fusion of this region with enhanced green fluorescent protein (Ms6LysBPGBD-EGFP) was shown to bind to Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium vaccae, Mycobacterium bovis BGC and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra cells pretreated with SDS or Ms6 LysB. In pulldown assays, we demonstrate that Ms6 LysB and Ms6LysBPGBD-EGFP bind to purified peptidoglycan of M. smegmatis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis, demonstrating affinity to PG of the A1γ chemotype. An infection assay with an Ms6 mutant producing a truncated version of LysB lacking the first 90 amino acids resulted in an abrupt lysis. These results clearly demonstrate that the N-terminus of Ms6 LysB binds to the PG.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (20) ◽  
pp. 10055-10063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Valli ◽  
Ana Montserrat Martín-Hernández ◽  
Juan José López-Moya ◽  
Juan Antonio García

ABSTRACT The P1 protein of viruses of the family Potyviridae is a serine proteinase, which is highly variable in length and sequence, and its role in the virus infection cycle is not clear. One of the proposed activities of P1 is to assist HCPro, the product that viruses of the genus Potyvirus use to counteract antiviral defense mediated by RNA silencing. Indeed, an HCPro-coding region is present in all the genomes of members of the genera Potyvirus, Rymovirus, and Tritimovirus that have been sequenced. However, it was recently reported that a sequence coding for HCPro is lacking in the genome of Cucumber vein yellowing virus (CVYV), a member of the genus Ipomovirus, the fourth monopartite genus of the family. In this study, we provide further evidence that P1 enhances the activity of HCPro in members of the genus Potyvirus and show that it is duplicated in the ipomovirus CVYV. The two CVYV P1 copies are arranged in tandem, and the second copy (P1b) has RNA silencing suppression activity. CVYV P1b suppressed RNA silencing induced either by sense green fluorescent protein (GFP) mRNA or by a GFP inverted repeat RNA, indicating that CVYV P1b acts downstream of the formation of double-stranded RNA. CVYV P1b also suppressed local silencing in agroinfiltrated patches of transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana line 16c and delayed its propagation to the neighboring cells. However, neither the short-distance nor long-distance systemic spread of silencing of the GFP transgene was completely blocked by CVYV P1b. CVYV P1b and P1-HCPro from the potyvirus Plum pox virus showed very similar behaviors in all the assays carried out, suggesting that evolution has found a way to counteract RNA silencing by similar mechanisms using very different proteins in viruses of the same family.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2825 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHEL ROUX ◽  
PHILIP LAMBERT

Two new species of deep-sea stalked crinoids belonging to the family Hyocrinidae were collected in the northeastern Pacific. The descriptions contain detailed information on character variations and ontogeny. The five specimens of Gephyrocrinus messingi n. sp. lived at depths ranging from 1,777 m to 2,110 m off British Columbia and California. This new species is the first record of the genus Gephyrocrinus in the Pacific Ocean, which was previously known from only a single species, G. grimaldii, from the northeastern Atlantic at the same depth range. The two species illustrate opposing phenotypes within the same genus. Fifty-eight specimens of the second new species, Ptilocrinus clarki n. sp., were dredged off British Columbia close to the type-locality of P. pinnatus, the type species of the genus Ptilocrinus, but at shallower depths ranging from 1,178 to 1,986 m. This exceptional collection provides significant data on intraspecific variation in the main morphological characters, especially arm pattern. The ontogeny of stalk articulations and the main traits of adoral plate differentiation are described in detail. A complementary investigation on P. pinnatus was conducted using specimens collected by the “Albatross” expedition at a depth of 2,906 m. Despite similarities in external morphology, tegmen and cover plates, the two ptilocrinid species display significant differences in pinnule architecture, aboral cup and stalk articulations. From comparison with Gephyrocrinus messingi n. sp. and Ptilocrinus clarki n. sp., G. grimaldii and P. pinnatus are interpreted as the result of heterochronic development by paedomorphy after ecological or geographic isolation. Pinnule architecture in the two new species suggests first steps in an evolutionary trend toward a rigid box which protects gonad inflation in the proximal part of the pinnule. These new data on Ptilocrinus and Gephyrocrinus create problems in the current taxonomy of the family Hyocrinidae. The main derived characters, especially in pinnule and arm pattern, are used to propose new hypotheses for hyocrinid phylogeny.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 3332-3343 ◽  
Author(s):  
George D. Wilson

Two new species of asellote isopods from the waters surroundng the San Juan Archipelago are described and diagnosed. Baeonectes improvisus n. gen., n. sp. and Acanthamunnopsis milleri n. sp. belong to the highly evolved, natatory families Eurycopidae and Munnopsidae, respectively. Baeonectes, a circum-arctic and boreal shallow-water genus, also includes B. muticus (Sars), the type-species. The taxonomic concept of Acanthamunnopsis has difficulties that must be resolved before A. milleri can be described. To this end, the family Acanthamunnopsidae Schultz is invalidated and merged with the Munnopsidae; the genus Acanthamunnopsis Schultz is revised; and A. hystrix, the type-species, is redescribed with corrections and additions to the original description. The unusual presence of the bathypelagic genus Acanthamunnopsis in the surface waters of the San Juan Archipelago is discussed. Acanthamunnopsis milleri is tentatively postulated to be a deep resident of the open ocean that was carried landward into the Strait of Juan de Fuca by upwelled intrusions of cold, saline water.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
H M Ashashree ◽  
H A Sayeswara ◽  
K L Naik ◽  
N Kumara Swamy ◽  
Nafeesa Begum

Fresh water wetlands are fragile ecosystems, which are fast deterioring and shrinking due to manmade activities. The fish composition of Huchharayanakere of Shikaripura was studied for a period of twelve months from January to December 2015. The icthyo-faunal diversity of this pond confirmed the occurrence of 13 species of fishes belonging to 5 families. The family Cyprinidae represented by 9 species. Families Anabantidae, Bagridae, Clupeidae and Notopteridae were represented by only a single species. Simultaneously the physico-chemical condition of the water body revealed that water quality is suitable for fish culture. The study of fish fauna of an aquatic body is useful for planning of fisheries development. The pond needs proper management and utilization of this fish wealth and sustainable steps to monitor and conserve the fish health. The present study revealed that Huchharayanakere of Shikaripura harbors wide varieties of fish with economic importance in local and global trade. The study will provide future strategies for development and fish conservation.


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3271 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
CONRAD J. HOSKIN

In Australia the frog family Microhylidae is largely restricted to tropical rainforests of the Wet Tropics region in the north-east of the country, but in that region the family is diverse. Only one species, Cophixalus ornatus, is widespread in the WetTropics but there has been suspicion that it may comprise multiple species. A recent study (Hoskin et al. 2011) assessedgenetic and phenotypic variation across the range of C. ornatus, finding three deeply divergent genetic lineages that differin mating call and some aspects of morphology. Two of these lineages abutt in the central Wet Tropics and in that areahybridization was found to be very limited despite sympatry at high densities. Based on multiple lines of data, Hoskin etal. (2011) concluded that the three genetic lineages represent biological species. The taxonomy of these three lineages isresolved here. I describe two new species, Cophixalus australis sp. nov. and Cophixalus hinchinbrookensis sp. nov., andredescribe C. ornatus. The three species are not distinguishable based on any single morphological or call trait and arebest identified by genetics or locality. The distributions of the three species are largely allopatric. Cophixalus ornatus isfound in rainforest in the northern Wet Tropics, C. australis sp. nov. occurs in rainforest and adjacent wet sclerophyllforests in the central and southern Wet Tropics, and C. hinchinbrookensis sp. nov. inhabits rainforest and montane heathon Hinchinbrook Island. All three species are common. Cophixalus australis sp. nov. contains three genetic subgroupsthat are considered a single species based on phenotypic similarity and high levels of hybridization at contact zones. Thedescription of Cophixalus australis sp. nov. and Cophixalus hinchinbrookensis sp. nov. brings the number of Australian Cophixalus species to 18, 15 of which are restricted to the Wet Tropics region.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4657 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-360
Author(s):  
WILLIAM A. SHEAR ◽  
PAUL E. MAREK

Urochordeumatidae Silvestri, 1909 includes a single species, Urochordeuma bumpusi Silvestri, 1909, with U. porona Chamberlin, 1941 as a new junior subjective synonym. The family Urochordeumatidae is removed from the superfamily Caseyoidea and transferred to the superfamily Striarioidea. The species is known only from four counties in Washington State in the North Cascades: Pierce, King, Thurston and Whatcom. The occurrence of U. bumpusi from Whatcom County is a significant range extension. 


Metabolites ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Clermont ◽  
Yaxin Wang ◽  
Siming Liu ◽  
Zhenzhen Yang ◽  
Claude dePamphilis ◽  
...  

Parasitic weeds of the family Orobanchaceae attach to the roots of host plants via haustoria capable of drawing nutrients from host vascular tissue. The connection of the haustorium to the host marks a shift in parasite metabolism from autotrophy to at least partial heterotrophy, depending on the level of parasite dependence. Species within the family Orobanchaceae span the spectrum of host nutrient dependency, yet the diversity of parasitic plant metabolism remains poorly understood, particularly during the key metabolic shift surrounding haustorial attachment. Comparative profiling of major metabolites in the obligate holoparasite Phelipanche aegyptiaca and the facultative hemiparasite Triphysaria versicolor before and after attachment to the hosts revealed several metabolic shifts implicating remodeling of energy and amino acid metabolism. After attachment, both parasites showed metabolite profiles that were different from their respective hosts. In P. aegyptiaca, prominent changes in metabolite profiles were also associated with transitioning between different tissue types before and after attachment, with aspartate levels increasing significantly after the attachment. Based on the results from 15N labeling experiments, asparagine and/or aspartate-rich proteins were enriched in host-derived nitrogen in T. versicolor. These results point to the importance of aspartate and/or asparagine in the early stages of attachment in these plant parasites and provide a rationale for targeting aspartate-family amino acid biosynthesis for disrupting the growth of parasitic weeds.


Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1494 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES DARWIN THOMAS ◽  
KRISTINE N. KLEBBA

Six new amphipod species in the genus Leucothoe from the tropical western Atlantic Ocean are described and illustrated. Extensive field collecting and specialized underwater collecting techniques have documented 43 new invertebrate host records for these new taxa. Four of these new species inhabit interior canals of sponges; Leucothoe barana n.sp., Leucothoe garifunae n.sp., Leucothoe saron n.sp., and Leucothoe ubouhu n.sp. A remarkable new species, Leucothoe flammosa n.sp., nestles in the gills of seven species of bivalve mollusks. A single species, Leucothoe wuriti n.sp., appears restricted to the branchial chamber of two species of solitary ascidians. Detailed illustrations and scanning electron microscopy enables comparison of ultrastructure details. More precise taxonomic character morphologies are also presented thus allowing improved taxonomic precision within the family Leucothoidae.


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