Nuclear import of BCL11B is mediated by a classical nuclear localization signal and not the Krüppel-like zinc fingers

The Krüppel-like transcription factor BCL11B is characterized by wide tissue distribution and crucial functions in key developmental and cellular processes and various pathologies including cancer or HIV infection. Although basics of BCL11B activity and relevant interactions with other proteins were uncovered, how this exclusively nuclear protein localizes to its compartment remained unclear. Here, we demonstrate that unlike other KLFs, BCL11B does not require the C-terminal DNA-binding domain to pass through the nuclear envelope but encodes an independent, previously unidentified nuclear localization signal (NLS) which is located distantly from the zinc finger domains and fulfills the essential criteria of an autonomous NLS. First, it can redirect a heterologous cytoplasmic protein to the nucleus. Second, its mutations cause aberrant localization of the protein of origin. Finally, we provide experimental and in silico evidences of the direct interaction with importin alpha. The relative conservation of this motif allows formulating a consensus sequence (K/R)K-X13-14-KR+K++ which can be found in all BCL11B orthologues among vertebrates and in the closely related protein BCL11A.

Genome-wide analysis of HSP70 gene superfamily in Pyropia yezoensis (Bangiales, Rhodophyta): identification, characterization and expression profiles in response to dehydration stress

Background Heat shock proteins (HSPs) perform a fundamental role in protecting plants against abiotic stresses. Individual family members have been analyzed in previous studies, but there has not yet been a comprehensive analysis of the HSP70 gene family in Pyropia yezoensis. Results We investigated 15 putative HSP70 genes in Py. yezoensis. These genes were classified into two sub-families, denoted as DnaK and Hsp110. In each sub-family, there was relative conservation of the gene structure and motif. Synteny-based analysis indicated that seven and three PyyHSP70 genes were orthologous to HSP70 genes in Pyropia haitanensis and Porphyra umbilicalis, respectively. Most PyyHSP70s showed up-regulated expression under different degrees of dehydration stress. PyyHSP70-1 and PyyHSP70-3 were expressed in higher degrees compared with other PyyHSP70s in dehydration treatments, and then expression degrees somewhat decreased in rehydration treatment. Subcellular localization showed PyyHSP70-1-GFP and PyyHSP70-3-GFP were in the cytoplasm and nucleus/cytoplasm, respectively. Similar expression patterns of paired orthologs in Py. yezoensis and Py. haitanensis suggest important roles for HSP70s in intertidal environmental adaptation during evolution. Conclusions These findings provide insight into the evolution and modification of the PyyHSP70 gene family and will help to determine the functions of the HSP70 genes in Py. yezoensis growth and development.

Relative conservation value of Nova Scotia’s forests: forested wetlands as avian diversity hotspots

Nova Scotia’s forested landscapes are degraded and under stress. As the province moves toward an ecological forestry management approach, land managers need more complete information about the relative biodiversity value of various habitats in landscapes that they manage to fully assess conservation consequences of different management options. To begin assessing the relative conservation value of different forest types, we surveyed bird communities in 18 forested wetlands (wooded bogs, tall shrub swamps, and treed swamps), mature upland forest stands, and regenerating upland forest stands in western Nova Scotia during the breeding season in 2017 and 2018. There were distinct differences among the bird communities in each forest type. Bird species diversity, overall abundance, and abundance of several guilds and species of conservation concern were higher in forested wetlands than in mature and regenerating upland forests. Bogs and shrub swamps had the highest number of species with strong habitat affinities, but treed swamps and mature sites had unique suites of strongly associated species and guilds — several of conservation concern. Regenerating sites were occupied mainly by forest-edge species and conservation value was low. Our study highlights the importance of forested wetlands to bird conservation and supports the idea that forested wetlands are avian diversity hotspots.

Relative Conservation Status of Bird Orders With Special Attention to Raptors

Birds, especially raptors, play important roles in ecosystems. We examine the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List to determine which orders of birds have proportionally more or fewer species listed as threatened or declining compared to the Class-wide average. We further examine whether raptors are more threatened or declining than non-raptors and whether the order Accipitriformes is particularly threatened even when excluding Old World vultures – which are especially imperiled. Our results reveal heterogeneity across bird orders in proportions of threatened and declining species, with some orders having greater or lower proportions than the Class-wide proportion. We also show that the proportions of threatened species in each order are correlated with the proportion of declining species. Raptors have both greater proportions of threatened and declining species than non-raptors and Accipitriformes has greater-than-average proportions of threatened and declining species, even if Old World vultures are removed from the analysis. Our results should serve as a framework for discussion of the relative conservation status of bird orders, especially raptors, which are in need of increased conservation attention.

The Potential of Payment for Ecosystem Services for Crop Wild Relative Conservation

Crop wild relatives (CWR) have proven to be very valuable in agricultural breeding programs but remain a relatively under-utilized and under-protected resource. CWR have provided resistance to pests and diseases, abiotic stress tolerance, quality improvements and yield increases with the annual contribution of these traits to agriculture estimated at USD 115 billion globally and are considered to possess many valuable traits that have not yet been explored. The use of the genetic diversity found in CWR for breeding provides much-needed resilience to modern agricultural systems and has great potential to help sustainably increase agricultural production to feed a growing world population in the face of climate change and other stresses. A number of CWR taxa are at risk, however, necessitating coordinated local, national, regional and global efforts to preserve the genetic diversity of these plants through complementary in situ and ex situ conservation efforts. We discuss the absence of adequate institutional frameworks to incentivize CWR conservation services and propose payment for ecosystem services (PES) as an under-explored mechanism for financing these efforts. Such mechanisms could serve as a potentially powerful tool for enhancing the long-term protection of CWR.

High conservation priority of range-edge plant populations not matched by habitat protection or research effort

ABSTRACTHigh-latitude countries tend to contain the polar range-edge of many species that are nationally rare but globally common. This can focus national conservation efforts toward range-edge populations, whose conservation needs and value are disputed. Using plants in Canada as a case study, we ask whether national species-conservation rankings prioritize range-edge populations, and whether conservation priority is matched by habitat protection and research effort. We found that >75% of federally-protected plants only occur in Canada peripherally, at the northernmost 20% or less of their total range, and that the most imperilled taxa had the smallest percentage of their range in Canada (endangered plants: median=1.0%). Occurring peripherally in Canada was associated with higher threat even after accounting for range area, potentially because range-edge taxa experienced 85% higher human population densities in their Canadian range than non-peripheral taxa. High conservation priority was not matched by habitat protection, as more imperilled and more peripheral taxa had smaller fractions of their Canadian range in protected areas. Finally, peer-reviewed research on plants at-risk in Canada was low. Only 42% of plants considered at-risk in Canada had been studied in Canada, and only 11% of species with large distributions outside Canada had been studied in the context of their wider geographic range—information that is critical to establishing their relative conservation value. Our results illustrate that plant conservation in Canada is fundamentally linked to conserving range-edge populations, yet edge populations themselves are understudied, a research gap we must close to improve evidence-based conservation.