Diverse Heat Tolerance of the Yeast Symbionts of Platycerus Stag Beetles in Japan

The genus Platycerus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) is a small stag beetle group, which is adapted to cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests in East Asia. Ten Platycerus species in Japan form a monophyletic clade endemic to Japan and inhabit species-specific climatic zones. They are reported to have co-evolutionary associations with their yeast symbionts of the genus Sheffersomyces based on host cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and yeast intergenic spacer (IGS) phylogenies. Here we examined the heat tolerances of the yeast colonies isolated from the mycangia of 37 females belonging ten Japanese Platycerus species. The upper limits of growth and survival temperatures of each colony were decided by cultivating it at ten temperature levels between 17.5 and 40°C. Although both temperatures varied during 25.0–31.25°C, the maximum survival temperatures (MSTs) were a little higher than the maximum growth temperatures (MGTs) in 16 colonies. Pearson’s correlations between these temperatures and environmental factors (elevation and 19 bioclimatic variables from Worldclim database) of host beetle collection sites were calculated. These temperatures were significantly correlated with elevation negatively, the maximum temperature of the warmest month (Bio5) positively, and some precipitative variables, especially in the warm season (Bio12, 13, 16, 18) negatively. Sympatric Platycerus kawadai and Platycerus albisomni share the same lineage of yeast symbionts that exhibit the same heat tolerance, but the elevational lower range limit of P. kawadai is higher than that of P. albisomni. Based on the field survey in their sympatric site, the maximum temperature of host wood of P. kawadai larvae is higher about 2–3°C than that of P. albisomni larvae in the summer, which may restrict the elevational range of P. kawadai to higher area. In conclusion, it is suggested that the heat tolerance of yeast symbionts restricts the habitat range of their host Platycerus species or/and that the environmental condition that host Platycerus species prefers affect the heat tolerance of its yeast symbionts.

Analysis of Ethyl p-Methoxycinnamate from Kaempferia galanga L. Extract by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Ethyl para-methoxycinamate (EPMS) is a major compound of Kaempferia galanga L that has anti-inflammatory effect. The purpose of this study was to determine of EPMS in Kaempferiae galanga L rhizome extract by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and evaluated the performance of the analysis. This study included determination of system suitability, accuracy, precision, linearity and range, limit of detection (LOD) and Limit of quantitation (LOQ) and selectivity. The results of system suitability test HPLC System for EPMS analysis were as follows isocratic elution system of a mobile phase mixture of methanol: water (70:30) containing 0.1% TFA, uv detector at a wavelength of 308 nm using column C18 (150 × 4, 6mm, 5μm) flow rate 1 ml / min. From the analysis, it was found that the average EPMS content was 78.74%. Then method had linear concentration range from 5-360 ppm, with R ² = 0.9999. The LOD and LOQ were 7.0722 ppm and 21.4311 ppm respectively. The accuracy of this method that represented by % recovery was 98.02% - 101.26%. The precision of this method that expressed by Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) was 1.57%. The selectivity of this method that showed by resolution value was 2.6. Based on the results of the system suitability test and analysis performance evaluation,all parameters met the requirements.

The Reef Coral Coscinaraea marshae Is Not a High-Latitude Endemic

The ‘temperate’ reef coral Coscinaraea marshae Wells, 1962, is reported from Siberut Island (West Sumatra, Indonesia), a near-equatorial locality, 3375 km away from its northernmost range limit in Western Australia, where it is considered a high-latitude endemic. This tropical record suggests that the latitudinal distributions of poorly recorded reef corals may not yet be fully understood, which might be relevant in the light of progressing seawater warming.

Vascular flora of the Outer Banks, North Carolina, U.S.A.

A complete catalogue of the vascular flora of the North Carolina Outer Banks is presented. Rarity, habitat, distribution within the Outer Banks, and earliest and latest specimens are given for each taxon. The flora contains 1020 species and infraspecific taxa, plus an additional 80 taxa that lack voucher specimens. Some 770 taxa are considered native; 250 non-native. Fifty-one taxa reach their northern range limit on the Outer Banks; 11 their southern limit. Fifty-five taxa are listed as rare in North Carolina; one of them also listed Threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Twenty-four natural communities are described and assessed for vulnerabil-ity to sea level rise. Prior botanical research is listed chronologically.

News from the western front: occurrence of Mediterranea depressa (Sterki, 1880) (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Oxychilidae) in the Vosges and Jura Mountains (north-eastern France)

We report here the first record of Mediterranea depressa (Sterki, 1880) in the north-eastern quarter of France, in the Vosges and Jura massifs. After the fortuitous discovery of some shells attributed to M. depressa in the southern Vosges Mts., an extensive sampling campaign was carried out both in the Vosges and in the Jura Mts. In total, about 20 shells and seven live specimens were found at eight localities, which, according to the present state of our knowledge, represent its north-western range limit. The species was found exclusively under stones of rocky slope screes on siliceous and calcareous substrates. Some of these habitats could be described as Mesovoid Shallow Substratum. It is not clear whether the rarity of the species is an effect of under-sampling or of its small size and unusual habitat or/and to intrinsic rarity due to isolated populations at the distribution limits of the species. The extreme north-eastern quarter of France constitutes an oceanic-continental transition zone where about thirty gastropod species from Central and Eastern Europe are currently documented at the western limit of their ranges.

Thermo-Optical Characterization of Cu- and Zr-Modified TiO2 Photocatalysts by Beam Deflection Spectrometry

Cu/Zr-modified TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared in the form of nanopowders and characterized by photothermal spectrometry, UV–Vis spectrophotometry and x-ray diffraction (XRD) to investigate the effect of Cu/Zr content on their thermo-optical and transport properties. Adding Cu (0.05%) caused a change in the light absorption range limit, which reduced from 3.25 eV for pure TiO2 to 2.85 eV for Cu-modified TiO2. The decrease in energy band gap was accompanied by a 19.5% decrease in the charge carrier lifetime, which is not favorable for photocatalysis. The decrease in charge carrier lifetime can be minimized by additional modification of TiO2 with Zr (1%), which showed insignificant effects on the energy band gap of the investigated materials. Furthermore, modification of TiO2 with Zr affected the material’s structure and increased its specific surface area, which improved the adsorption of degraded compounds as well as the absorption of light. Altogether, these effects resulted in higher photocatalytic degradation rate constants of the investigated TiO2-based photocatalyst. It was also found that modification of TiO2 with Cu and/or Zr increases both the material’s thermal diffusivity and conductivity due to changes in the band gap and structure of material. Beam deflection spectrometry (BDS) has demonstrated high potential in materials’ characterization which stems from its high sensitivity and precision.

Thermal-metabolic phenotypes of the lizard Podarcis muralis differ across elevation, but converge in high elevation hypoxia

In response to a warming climate, many montane species are shifting upslope to track the emergence of preferred temperatures. Characterizing patterns of variation in metabolic, physiological, and thermal traits along an elevational gradient, and the plastic potential of these traits, is necessary to understand current and future responses to abiotic constraints at high elevations, including limited oxygen availability. We performed a transplant experiment with the upslope-colonizing common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) in which we measured nine aspects of thermal physiology and aerobic capacity in lizards from replicate low- (400 m above sea level [ASL]) and high-elevation (1700 m ASL) populations. We first measured traits at their elevation of origin and then transplanted half of each group to extreme high elevation (2900 m ASL; above the current elevational range limit of this species), where oxygen availability is reduced by ∼25% relative to sea level. After three weeks of acclimation, we again measured these traits in both the transplanted and control groups. The multivariate thermal-metabolic phenotypes of lizards originating from different elevations differed clearly when measured at the elevation of origin. For example, high-elevation lizards are more heat tolerant than low-elevation counterparts (countergradient variation). Yet, these phenotypes converged after exposure to reduced oxygen availability at extreme high elevation, suggesting limited plastic responses under this novel constraint. Our results suggest that high-elevation populations are well-suited to their oxygen environments, but that plasticity in the thermal-metabolic phenotype does not pre-adapt these populations to colonize more hypoxic environments at higher elevations.

Determination of N-Acetyl-l-cysteine Ethyl Ester (NACET) by Flow Injection Analysis and Spectrophotometric Detection Using Different Thiol-Sensitive Ligands

A new flow injection spectrophotometric method for the determination of N-acetyl-l-cysteine ethyl ester (NACET) was developed and validated. The method is based on the reduction of Cu(II)-ligand complexes to chromophoric Cu(I)-ligand complexes with the analyte. The studied ligands were neocuproine (NCN), bicinchoninic acid (BCA) and bathocuproine disulfonic acid (BCS). The absorbance of the Cu(I)-ligand complex was measured at 458, 562 and 483 nm for the reactions of NACET with NCN, BCA and BCS, respectively. The method was validated in terms of linear dynamic range, limit of detection and quantitation, accuracy, selectivity, and precision. Experimental conditions were optimized by a univariate method, yielding linear calibration curves in a concentration range from 2.0 × 10−6 mol L−1 to 2.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 using NCN; 2.0 × 10−6 mol L−1 to 1.0 × 10−4 mol L−1 using BCA and 6.0 × 10−7 mol L−1 to 1.2 × 10−4 mol L−1 using BCS. The achieved analytical frequency was 90 h−1 for all three ligands. The method was successfully employed for NACET determination in pharmaceutical preparations, indicating that this FIA method fulfilled all the essential demands for the determination of NACET in quality control laboratories, as it combined low instrument and reagent costs with a high sampling rate.