Non‐spherical pearl layers in the Polynesian ‘black‐lipped’ Pinctada margaritifera: The non‐nacreous deposits compared to microstructure of the shell growing edge

Cultivated pearls frequently exhibit morphological irregularities making obvious that mineral deposition was irregularly distributed onto nucleus surface. Taking advantage of experimental cultivations with short durations (from 10 days to few months), these irregular deposits predating occurrence of the nacre were investigated in Polynesian pearls by biochemical characterizations and a series of physical methods. Diversity in the resulting data suggests that various in‐depth alterations of the biomineralization mechanism may have occurred during the grafting process, leading to diversity in the biochemical pathways to nacreous deposition. This allows a precise discussion of current views about pearl formation. The “reversed shell theory” is formally disproved through point to point comparison with development of the shell growing edge. Similarity of pearl formation with “regeneration” or “shell repair” is also discussed, emphasizing the differences between these concepts.     

A physical map of the 1-gigabase bread wheat chromosome 3B

As the staple food for 35% of the world's population, wheat is one of the most important crop species. To date, sequence-based tools to accelerate wheat improvement are lacking. As part of the international effort to sequence the 17-billion-base-pair hexaploid bread wheat genome (2n = 6x = 42 chromosomes), we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-based integrated physical map of the largest chromosome, 3B, that alone is 995 megabases. A chromosome-specific BAC library was used to assemble 82% of the chromosome into 1036 contigs that were anchored with 1443 molecular markers, providing a major resource for genetic and genomic studies. This physical map establishes a template for the remaining wheat chromosomes and demonstrates the feasibility of constructing physical maps in large, complex, polyploid genomes with a chromosome-based approach.     

Fine earth soil bulk density at 0.2 m depth from Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) soil 2018

Soil Bulk Density (BD) is an extremely important variable because it is an important site characterization parameter, and it is highly relevant for policy development because it is mandatory for calculating soil nutrient stocks. BD can influence soil chemical properties, land-use planning and agronomic management. The 2018 Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) saw the unprecedented collection of BD core analysis in a subset of the locations in Europe and the United Kingdom where soil physical and chemical properties were analysed in the 2009 and the 2015 sampling campaigns. Here, we integrated the LUCAS 2018 BD sampling campaign with the mass fraction of coarse fragments previously determined in LUCAS 2009–2015 in order to provide a dataset of the volume fraction of coarse fragments and the BD of the fine earth and improve soil organic carbon (SOC) stock estimation accuracy for topsoil. BD data sampled at 0–10 and 10–20 cm were averaged to harmonize the BD with the mass fraction of coarse fragments measured in 2009, 2012 and 2015. Samples were from cropland, grassland and woodland soils, which accounted for 41%, 21% and 30%, respectively, of the total number of selected sites (n = 6059); ‘bareland’, and ‘shrubland’ accounted for 3% of the sites each, whereas ‘artificial land’ accounted for <1%. Only six samples were classified as ‘wetland’. The dataset was produced assuming the mass density of the coarse fraction to be constant across all LUCAS soil samples. We also estimated the SOC stocks associated with LUCAS 2018 BD and SOC content measurements and showed that correcting the BD by the coarse mass fraction instead of the coarse volume fraction generates SOC stock underestimation. We found the highest deviations in woodlands and shrublands. We showed that, when SOC stock is computed with coarse mass fraction, the error compared with the computation by volume may vary depending on the SOC and coarse mass fraction. This may imply a SOC stock underestimation for European soils. This dataset fits into the big framework of LUCAS soil properties monitoring and contributes both to soil awareness and soil research and assessments, which are two important objectives of the Soil Strategy and the European Soil Observatory (EUSO).     

Influence of the extent of hemoglobin hydrolysis on the digestive absorption of heme iron. An in vitro study

This study was designed to assess the interactions of heme with peptides produced by enzyme hydrolysis of hemoglobin, and their relationship with heme iron absorption. Bovine hemoglobin was hydrolyzed by pepsin or by subtilisin, which differ in their hydrolysis processes. The hydrolysis rate ranged from 0 (native hemoglobin) to 15%. Heme solubility and heme-peptides interactions were compared to iron absorption by the Ussing chamber model, at intestinal pH (7.5). Increasing hemoglobin hydrolysis enhanced iron absorption; the highest value was reached between 8 and 11% hydrolysis, whatever the enzyme used. Comparing the products of hydrolysis of the two enzymes showed that heme iron absorption depends not only on its solubility, but relies mainly on the balance between the strength of heme-peptides and the polymerization rate of heme.     

Evidence of diadromy in the French Polynesian Kuhlia malo (Teleostei: Percoidei) inferred from otolith microchemistry analysis

Abstract – Strontium/Calcium (Sr/Ca) and Barium/Calcium (Ba/Ca) ratios were measured in 60 otoliths of the French Polynesian flagtail Kuhlia malo. Both elemental ratios were needed to correctly distinguish residence in marine, brackish and fresh water. High Sr/Ca and low Ba/Ca around the nucleus of all otoliths provided evidence of marine residency during the early life of all individuals. At about 0.5 mm from the core, Ba/Ca increased rapidly and remained high in all otoliths. High and unstable Sr/Ca ratios were attributed to estuarine residency, whereas low and stable Sr/Ca ratios were attributed to freshwater residency. These chemical signatures inferred that following recruitment to rivers, some fish remained in the estuary, while others moved upstream. Some individuals shared their time between fresh and brackish waters later in life. The findings of this study have important implications for the protection of nearshore, brackish and freshwater environments for the conservation of this French Polynesian diadromous species.     

Identification of the major metabolites of prochloraz in rainbow trout by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry

The metabolic pattern of the imidazole fungicide prochloraz [N-propyl-N-[2-(2,4,6-trichlorophenoxy)ethyl]imidazole-1-carboximide] was investigated in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Following a single oral administration of [(14)C]prochloraz, levels 4.3 +/- 4.1 and 3.9 +/- 1.8% of the dose were excreted in the bile after 48 h in male and female animals, respectively. Urinary radioactivity accounted for 1.3 +/- 0.4 and 2.4 +/- 1.1% of the dose over the same period in males and females. Metabolites from both matrices were separated by reversed-phase HPLC with radioactive detection and analyzed by positive and/or negative electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. No unchanged prochloraz was detected in the analyzed excreta. The major biotransformation products in bile were the aldehyde corresponding to the cleavage of the imidazole ring, N-2-(2,4,6-trichlorophenoxy)ethylurea, and the glucuronide conjugate of 2,4,6-trichlorophenoxyethanol. In urine, the major metabolite was 2,4,6-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid. On the basis of enzymatic hydrolysis by beta-glucuronidase and LC-MS analyses, this study demonstrates that rainbow trout are able to biotransform prochloraz, mainly as glucuronide conjugates.     

Polymorphism of 14α-demethylase Gene (CYP51) in the Cereal Eyespot Fungi Tapesia acuformis and Tapesia yallundae

Cereal eyespot fungi Tapesia acuformis and Tapesia yallundae are closely related species which show different behaviours upon treatment with sterol 14-demethylase inhibitors (DMIs). T. acuformis is naturally resistant to DMIs belonging to the triazole family and susceptible to the imidazole ones, whilst T. yallundae is sensitive to both inhibitors. Cloning of the target enzyme gene, CYP51, from the two species revealed an important polymorphism between them. Further sequencing of CYP51 from sixteen T. acuformis and eleven T. yallundae strains with different phenotypes with regards to resistance to DMIs confirmed that at least eleven variations are species related. Among them, a conserved phenylalanine residue at position 180, found both in T. yallundae and in all known CYP51 proteins from filamentous fungi and yeast, was replaced in T. acuformis by a leucine. Therefore, a leucine at 180 could be possibly involved in natural resistance of T. acuformis to triazoles. Other mutations were observed in some resistant strains, sometimes simultaneously, but in contrast to what was reported for other filamentous fungi, where a mutation at the 136 position of the CYP51 gene product seemed to correlate with resistance to DMIs, we did not find a clear relationship between a given mutation and a particular phenotype. This result suggests that resistance to DMIs could have a polygenic nature in Tapesia. We took advantage of species-related variations to develop a PCR-based assay allowing rapid and easy discrimination between field strains of the two species.     

Gene discovery in Eimeria tenella by immunoscreening cDNA expression libraries of sporozoites and schizonts with chicken intestinal antibodies

Specific antibodies were produced ex vivo from intestinal culture of Eimeria tenella infected chickens. The specificity of these intestinal antibodies was tested against different parasite stages. These antibodies were used to immunoscreen first generation schizont and sporozoite cDNA libraries permitting the identification of new E. tenella antigens. We obtained a total of 119 cDNA clones which were subjected to sequence analysis. The sequences coding for the proteins inducing local immune responses were compared with nucleotide or protein databases and with expressed sequence tags (ESTs) databases. We identified new Eimeria genes coding for heat shock proteins, a ribosomal protein, a pyruvate kinase and a pyridoxine kinase. Specific features of other sequences are discussed.