Tree shrew lavatories: a novel nitrogen sequestration strategy in a tropical pitcher plant

Nepenthes pitcher plants are typically carnivorous, producing pitchers with varying combinations of epicuticular wax crystals, viscoelastic fluids and slippery peristomes to trap arthropod prey, especially ants. However, ant densities are low in tropical montane habitats, thereby limiting the potential benefits of the carnivorous syndrome. Nepenthes lowii , a montane species from Borneo, produces two types of pitchers that differ greatly in form and function. Pitchers produced by immature plants conform to the ‘typical’ Nepenthes pattern, catching arthropod prey. However, pitchers produced by mature N. lowii plants lack the features associated with carnivory and are instead visited by tree shrews, which defaecate into them after feeding on exudates that accumulate on the pitcher lid. We tested the hypothesis that tree shrew faeces represent a significant nitrogen (N) source for N. lowii , finding that it accounts for between 57 and 100 per cent of foliar N in mature N. lowii plants. Thus, N. lowii employs a diversified N sequestration strategy, gaining access to a N source that is not available to sympatric congeners. The interaction between N. lowii and tree shrews appears to be a mutualism based on the exchange of food sources that are scarce in their montane habitat.

Download Full-text

Aspects of masticatory form and function in common tree shrews,Tupaia glis

Journal of Morphology ◽

10.1002/jmor.1051760103 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 176 (1) ◽

pp. 15-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Dale R. Fish

Keyword(s):

Tree Shrews ◽

Form And Function ◽

Tupaia Glis ◽

And Function ◽

Common Tree

Download Full-text

Acoustic Assessment of the Nasal Airway

The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal ◽

10.1597/1545-1569_1992_029_0520_aaotna_2.3.co_2 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 520-526 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Rodger M. Dalston

Keyword(s):

Nasal Cavity ◽

Acoustic Analysis ◽

Quantitative Information ◽

Nasal Airway ◽

Form And Function ◽

Instrumental Assessment ◽

Traditional Measure ◽

Assessment Techniques ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

And Function

Instrumental assessment techniques are needed to acquire quantitative information concerning the form and function of the nasal cavity. Until recently, aerodynamic methods were virtually the only source of such information. Two additional instruments are now available that purport to provide information useful to clinicians interested in assessing nasal form and function. This paper describes both the Nasometer and the acoustic rhinometer. In addition, a more traditional measure involving acoustic analysis of nasal consonants is discussed. Both the known and potential benefits and limitations of each technique are discussed.

Download Full-text

Aquaculture: a rapidly growing and significant source of sustainable food? Status, transitions and potential

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665116000665 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 75 (3) ◽

pp. 274-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

D. C. Little ◽

R. W. Newton ◽

M. C. M. Beveridge

Keyword(s):

Food Sources ◽

Value Chains ◽

Resource Base ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Form And Function ◽

Human Needs ◽

Full Life Cycle ◽

Cultural Preferences ◽

The Status ◽

And Function

The status and potential of aquaculture is considered as part of a broader food landscape of wild aquatic and terrestrial food sources. The rationale and resource base required for the development of aquaculture are considered in the context of broader societal development, cultural preferences and human needs. Attention is drawn to the uneven development and current importance of aquaculture globally as well as its considerable heterogeneity of form and function compared with established terrestrial livestock production. The recent drivers of growth in demand and production are examined and the persistent linkages between exploitation of wild stocks, full life cycle culture and the various intermediate forms explored. An emergent trend for sourcing aquaculture feeds from alternatives to marine ingredients is described and the implications for the sector with rapidly growing feed needs discussed. The rise of non-conventional and innovative feed ingredients, often shared with terrestrial livestock, are considered, including aquaculture itself becoming a major source of marine ingredients. The implications for the continued expected growth of aquaculture are set in the context of sustainable intensification, with the challenges that conventional intensification and emergent integration within, and between, value chains explored. The review concludes with a consideration of the implications for dependent livelihoods and projections for various futures based on limited resources but growing demand.

Download Full-text

Plant Epicuticular Waxes: Chemistry, Form, Self-Assembly and Function

Natural Product Communications ◽

10.1177/1934578x0600101123 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 (11) ◽

pp. 1934578X0600101 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kerstin Koch ◽

Wilhelm Barthlott

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Self Assembly ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Plant Secondary Metabolites ◽

Land Plants ◽

Epicuticular Waxes ◽

65Th Birthday ◽

Epicuticular Wax Crystals ◽

And Function ◽

Wax Crystals

Plant epicuticular waxes represent the outermost boundary layer of the majority of land plants. Based on their micromorphology and chemical composition they form a multifunctional surface. Their most important functions are the protection against uncontrolled water loss, reflection of solar radiation from UV to visible light, and their crucial influence on surface wettability and particle adhesion. The three-dimensional epicuticular wax crystals are of particular importance for the majority of these interfacial interactions. This article provides an overview on plant epicuticular waxes, focusing on chemical composition, morphology, self-assembly and function. It is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Eckhard Wollenweber on the occasion of his 65th birthday, and his continuous and fundamental work on a special class of plant secondary metabolites that are collectively called flavonoids.

Download Full-text

Morphological Examination of a Herpes-type Virus Indigenous for Tree Shrews

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100067790 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 160-161

Author(s):

J. P. Brunschwig ◽

R. M. McCombs ◽

R. Mirkovic ◽

M. Benyesh-Melnick

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Soft Tissue ◽

Chick Embryo ◽

Soft Tissue Sarcoma ◽

Cell Cultures ◽

Tree Shrew ◽

Type Virus ◽

Morphological Examination ◽

Tree Shrews ◽

Embryo Cells

A new virus, established as a member of the herpesvirus group by electron microscopy, was isolated from spontaneously degenerating cell cultures derived from the kidneys and lungs of two normal tree shrews. The virus was found to replicate best in cells derived from the homologous species. The cells used were a tree shrew cell line, T-23, which was derived from a spontaneous soft tissue sarcoma. The virus did not multiply or did so poorly for a limited number of passages in human, monkey, rodent, rabbit or chick embryo cells. In the T-23 cells, the virus behaved as members of the subgroup B of herpesvirus, in that the virus remained primarily cell associated.

Download Full-text

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of DNA and RNA

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100152148 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 34-35

Author(s):

Patricia G. Arscott ◽

Gil Lee ◽

Victor A. Bloomfield ◽

D. Fennell Evans

Keyword(s):

Molecular Structures ◽

Inorganic Materials ◽

Resolving Power ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Form And Function ◽

Dna And Rna ◽

Calf Thymus ◽

And Function ◽

The Relationship

STM is one of the most promising techniques available for visualizing the fine details of biomolecular structure. It has been used to map the surface topography of inorganic materials in atomic dimensions, and thus has the resolving power not only to determine the conformation of small molecules but to distinguish site-specific features within a molecule. That level of detail is of critical importance in understanding the relationship between form and function in biological systems. The size, shape, and accessibility of molecular structures can be determined much more accurately by STM than by electron microscopy since no staining, shadowing or labeling with heavy metals is required, and there is no exposure to damaging radiation by electrons. Crystallography and most other physical techniques do not give information about individual molecules.We have obtained striking images of DNA and RNA, using calf thymus DNA and two synthetic polynucleotides, poly(dG-me5dC)·poly(dG-me5dC) and poly(rA)·poly(rU).

Download Full-text