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SUMMARY: The genus Glyptonotus is most commonly regarded as monospecific, with Glyptonotus antarcticus Eights 1852 being its only constituent. Two more forms (G. acutus, G. antarcticus var. obtusus) that had been described based on morphological evidence have received little attention in the literature, though no formal attempt to evaluate their taxonomic status has been undertaken. In a survey of within-species genetic diversity, 23 specimens of the benthic Antarctic isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus from three sampling areas around the Antarctic had a high genetic variability in their mitochondrial LSU (16S) gene. Eleven unique mitochondrial haplotypes were found, two at the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), two in the Ross Sea (RS) and seven in the Eastern Weddell Sea (EWS). Average haplotype variation within sampling areas (AP, RS, EWS) was one order of magnitude less than between sampling areas. In the EWS, however, two highly differentiated haplotypes co-exist. These four groups of haplotypes may represent cryptic, but reproductively isolated species rather than a single species.

Despite its extreme environmental conditions the deep sea harbors a unique and species-rich fauna of mostly unknown age and phylogeny. Asellote isopods have undergone their most impressive radiation in the deep sea, being found at all depths down to the deepest trench. Here we present the first molecular evidence for the phylogenetic origin of this remarkable array of deep-sea crustaceans, based on 30 new DNA-sequences of the complete 18s rRNA gene of specimens collected at depths down to 4543 m in the South Atlantic and South Polar Ocean. The results show that most of these isopod lineages belong to a single ancient clade. They evolved in situ in large oceanic depths and survived several climatic changes, but the lack of fossils and of a suitable molecular clock model prevents a precise dating of this radiation. The monophyly of typical deep-sea families, for example the Haploniscidae, Ischnomesidae or Munnopsidae, is well supported by different methods of analysis, while the monophyly of the Janiridae is rejected.

Using two catalytic ring closing metatheses as the key events, a short, completely diastereoselective and highly enantioselective access to the molluscicidal sesquiterpenoids ricciocarpin A and ricciocarpin B was achieved. The hitherto unknown absolute configuration of these natural products is unambiguously established.

The shortening of telomeres as a causative factor in ageing is a widely discussed hypothesis in ageing research. The study of telomere length and its regenerating enzyme telomerase in the longest-lived non-colonial animal on earth, Arctica islandica, should inform whether the maintenance of telomere length plays a role in reaching the extreme maximum lifespan (MLSP) of > 500 years in this species. Since longitudinal measurements on living animals cannot be achieved, a cross-sectional analysis of a short-lived (MLSP 40 years from the Baltic Sea) and a long-lived population (MLSP 226 years Northeast of Iceland) and in different tissues of young and old animals from the Irish Sea was performed. A high heterogeneity of telomere length was observed in investigated A. islandica over a wide age range (10–36 years for the Baltic Sea, 11–194 years for Irish Sea, 6–226 years for Iceland). Constant telomerase activity and telomere lengths were detected at any age and in different tissues; neither correlated with age or population habitat. Stable telomere maintenance might contribute to the long lifespan of A. islandica. Telomere dynamics are no explanation for the distinct MLSPs of the examined populations and thus the cause of it remains to be investigated.

Background: Necrotizing pancreatitis is a life-threatening presentation of acute pancreatitis. The mortality of 20–80% initially depends on the persistence of organ failure and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and, in the later course of the disease, on secondary infection of the necrosis. The questions whether prophylactic antibiotics aiming to prevent this infection should be administered and which antibiotic is the best to use, as well as the problem of fungal infection under antibiotic treatment are still intriguing and insufficiently solved. Methods: A search of the literature using PubMed was carried out, supplemented by a review of the programmes of the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) and the United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW). Results: Despite the widely practised prophylactic antibiotic administration in severe pancreatitis, no evidence for the benefit of this strategy exists. One of the drawbacks might be a tendency for disastrous fungal infection under prophylactic antibiotics. Bacterial translocation from the gut in the second week after the onset of symptoms is the major source for infection of pancreatic necrosis and provides a clear indication for antibiotic treatment. However, routine fine-needle aspiration for a calculated antibiotic therapy cannot be recommended, and all other tests offer only indirect signs. Important factors such as enteral versus parenteral feeding and the method of necrosectomy are mostly neglected in the trials but seem to be essential for the outcome of the patient. Conclusions: Even though most meta-analyses including the newer double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on prophylactic antibiotics showed no beneficial effects in the prevention of infection of necrosis and/or outcome of the patients, this strategy is still widely used in clinical routine. Since nearly all trials published so far show systematic problems (i.e. inaccurate definition of the severity of the disease, poor statistical testing, and neglect of differences in the route of nutrition), there is a need for randomized controlled prospective trials with exact definitions of the disease. Hintergrund: Die nekrotisierende Pankreatitis weist eine Mortalität von 20–80% auf. Initial ist vor allem das Ausmaß des Organversagens entscheidend für die Prognose des Patienten. In der zweiten Krankheitswoche stellt dann die sekundäre Infektion der Nekrosen durch die Translokation von Darmkeimen das entscheidende Problem dar. Zur Vermeidung einer solchen Infektion werden klinisch sehr häufig Breitspektrumantibioktika prophylaktisch eingesetzt. Dies wird aber zunehmend kritisch diskutiert, und es existieren kontroverse Empfehlungen. Methoden: Eine Literaturrecherche unter Einbeziehung von PubMed und der Programme der Digestive Disease Week (DDW) und der United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW) wurde durchgeführt. Ergebnisse: Die meisten Studien können den prophylaktischen Einsatz von Antibiotika bei der schweren Pankreatitis nicht rechtfertigen. Einige Studien belegen vielmehr eine Selektion resistenter Keime und vor allem auch eine erhöhte Rate von schwer therapierbaren Pilzinfektionen unter einer solchen Therapie. Daher sollte erst nach dem Nachweis einer Nekroseinfektion mit einer Antibiotikatherapie begonnen werden, wobei keine Routine-Feinnadelpunktion der Nekrose zum Keimnachweis durchgeführt werden sollte. Es stehen daher nur indirekte, meist bildgebende Verfahren für den Infektionsnachweis zur Verfügung. Entscheidende Faktoren wie die enterale Ernährung und die Methode der Nekrosektomie wurden bisher bei den meisten Studien vernachlässigt, scheinen aber essenziell für das Behandlungsergebnis des Patienten zu sein. Schlussfolgerungen: Die meisten publizierten Studien weisen eine sehr heterogene Definition der Erkrankung, uneinheitliche Behandlungsprotokolle und Ungenauigkeiten bei der statistischen Testung auf. Gerade entscheidende Faktoren wie die enterale Ernährung werden größtenteils komplett vernachlässigt. Es besteht daher ein Bedarf für randomisierte placebokontrollierte Studien, die diese Probleme berücksichtigen und suffiziente Schlussfolgerungen zur Antibiotikatherapie der schweren Pankreatitis zulassen.

The potential use of ionic liquids (ILs) for biomass and carbohydrate processing has been discovered in the past decade. Many advantages have been pointed out in their application for biorefining purposes. The phase equilibria and volumetric properties of mixtures containing ILs and biomass-derived compounds such as sugars or sugar alcohols are relevant for process design. In this work, the density, at atmospheric pressure, of binary mixtures containing sugars (glucose and fructose) or sugar alcohols (xylitol and sorbitol) and ionic liquids (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate and Aliquat336) is presented within large temperature (278 K to 343 K) and composition ranges (up to sugar or sugar alcohol mass fraction of 0.30). The density data followed a bilinear trend with respect to temperature and composition. The data were therefore represented using planar regression with a very good accuracy, average relative deviation (ARD)

A new arcturid species of unusual size (> 6 cm) is described from a locality in the Drake Passage at 3720 m depth. Due to the unique combination of characters found in these isopods, the new genus Furcarcturus is proposed. Sequences of the 16S rRNA gene obtained from eight species indicate that the new species does not belong to groups of species currently placed in the genera Antarcturus and Chaetarcturus. More sequences are needed to corroborate arcturid phlylogeny.

23 pages; International audience; In the Southern Ocean, that is areas south of the Polar Front, long-term oceanographic cooling, geographic separation, development of isolating current and wind systems, tectonic drift and fluctuation of ice sheets amongst others have resulted in a highly endemic benthic fauna, which is generally adapted to the long-lasting, relatively stable environmental conditions. The Southern Ocean benthic ecosystem has been subject to minimal direct anthropogenic impact (compared to elsewhere) and thus presents unique opportunities to study biodiversity and its responses to environmental change. Since the beginning of the century, research under the Census of Marine Life and International Polar Year initiatives, as well as Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research biology programmes, have considerably advanced our understanding of the Southern Ocean benthos. In this paper, we evaluate recent progress in Southern Ocean benthic research and identify priorities for future research. Intense efforts to sample and describe the benthic fauna, coupled with coordination of information in global databases, have greatly enhanced understanding of the biodiversity and biogeography of the region. Some habitats, such as chemosynthetic systems, have been sampled for the first time, while application of new technologies and methods are yielding new insights into ecosystem structure and function. These advances have also highlighted important research gaps, notably the likely consequences of climate change. In a time of potentially pivotal environmental change, one of the greatest challenges is to balance conservation with increasing demands on the Southern Ocean's natural resources and services. In this context, the characterization of Southern Ocean biodiversity is an urgent priority requiring timely and accurate species identifications, application of standardized sampling and reporting procedures, as well as cooperation between disciplines and nations.

Research investigating the genetic basis of physiological responses has significantly broadened our understanding of the mechanisms underlying organismic response to environmental change. However, genomic data are currently available for few taxa only, thus excluding physiological model species from this approach. In this study we report the transcriptome of the model organism Hyas araneus from Spitsbergen (Arctic). We generated 20,479 transcripts, using the 454 {GS} {FLX} sequencing technology in combination with an Illumina HiSeq sequencing approach. Annotation by Blastx revealed 7159 blast hits in the {NCBI} non-redundant protein database. The comparison between the spider crab H. araneus transcriptome and {EST} libraries of the European lobster Homarus americanus and the porcelain crab Petrolisthes cinctipes yielded 3229/2581 sequences with a significant hit, respectively. The clustering by the Markov Clustering Algorithm (MCL) revealed a common core of 1710 clusters present in all three species and 5903 unique clusters for H. araneus. The combined sequencing approaches generated transcripts that will greatly expand the limited genomic data available for crustaceans. We introduce the {MCL} clustering for transcriptome comparisons as a simple approach to estimate similarities between transcriptomic libraries of different size and quality and to analyze homologies within the selected group of species. In particular, we identified a large variety of reverse transcriptase (RT) sequences not only in the H. araneus transcriptome and other decapod crustaceans, but also sea urchin, supporting the hypothesis of a heritable, anti-viral immunity and the proposed viral fragment integration by host-derived {RTs} in marine invertebrates.

Eurythenes gryllus is one of the most widespread amphipod species, occurring in every ocean with a depth range covering the bathyal, abyssal and hadal zones. Previous studies, however, indicated the existence of several genetically and morphologically divergent lineages, questioning the assumption of its cosmopolitan and eurybathic distribution. For the first time, its genetic diversity was explored at the global scale (Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans) by analyzing nuclear (28S rDNA) and mitochondrial (COI, 16S rDNA) sequence data using various species delimitation methods in a phylogeographic context. Nine putative species-level clades were identified within E. gryllus. A clear distinction was observed between samples collected at bathyal versus abyssal depths, with a genetic break occurring around 3,000 m. Two bathyal and two abyssal lineages showed a widespread distribution, while five other abyssal lineages each seemed to be restricted to a single ocean basin. The observed higher diversity in the abyss compared to the bathyal zone stands in contrast to the depth-differentiation hypothesis. Our results indicate that, despite the more uniform environment of the abyss and its presumed lack of obvious isolating barriers, abyssal populations might be more likely to show population differentiation and undergo speciation events than previously assumed. Potential factors influencing species’ origins and distributions, such as hydrostatic pressure, are discussed. In addition, morphological findings coincided with the molecular clades. Of all specimens available for examination, those of the bipolar bathyal clade seemed the most similar to the ‘true’ E. gryllus. We present the first molecular evidence for a bipolar distribution in a macro-benthic deep-sea organism.

Understanding patterns of contemporary population genetic structure and diversity is critically important for cold-adapted Southern Ocean benthic species along the Scotia Arc to distinguish between natural and anthropogenically-mediated range expansions and detect population declines due to the rapid climate change. We report the isolation and characterization of 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Antarctic endemic giant isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus from the Eastern Scotia Arc (n = 30). The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 11 with no evidence of significant linkage disequilibrium between loci. These markers will prove useful in studying the fine-scale processes, which have shaped the spatial distribution of variation, and hypothesis-testing in the Scotia Arc region of Antarctica.

The Perturbed-Chain Statistical Association Fluid Theory is applied to simultaneously describe various thermodynamic properties (solution density, osmotic coefficient, solubility) of aqueous solutions containing a monosaccharide or a disaccharide. The 13 sugars considered within this work are: glucose, fructose, fucose, xylose, maltose, mannitol, mannose, sorbitol, xylitol, galactose, lactose, trehalose, and sucrose. Four adjustable parameters (three pure-sugar parameters and a k(ij) between sugar and water that was allowed to depend linearly on temperature) were obtained from solution densities and osmotic coefficients of binary sugar/water solutions at 298.15 K available in literature. Using these parameters, the sugar solubility in water and in ethanol could be predicted satisfactorily. Further, osmotic coefficients and solubility in aqueous solutions containing two solutes (sugar/sugar, sugar/salt) were predicted (no additional k(ij) parameters between the two solutes) reasonably. The model was also applied to predict the solubility of a sugar in a solvent mixture (e.g., water/ethanol) without additional fitting parameters. (c) 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 4794-4805, 2013

ePC-SAFT was used to investigate the density of and gas solubilities in imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) applying different modeling strategies. The ion-based strategy including a Debye-Hückel Helmholtz-energy term to represent the ionic interactions describes the experimental data best. For this strategy, the IL was considered to be completely dissociated into a cation and an anion. Each ion was modeled as non-spherical species exerting repulsive, dispersive, and Coulomb forces. A set of ePC-SAFT parameters for seven ions was obtained by fitting to reliable density data of pure ILs up to 1000 bar with a fitting error of 0.14% on average. The model can be used to quantitatively extrapolate the density of pure ILs at temperatures from 283 to 473 K and pressures up to 3000 bar. Moreover, this strategy allows predicting CO2 solubilities in ILs between 293 and 450 K and up to 950 bar. Applying the same set of IL parameters, the much lower solubility of CH4 compared to CO2 can also be predicted with ePC-SAFT. Validerad; 2012; 20120529 (xiajix)

15 pages; International audience; The Dumont d'Urville Sea (East Antarctic region) has been less investigated for DNA barcoding and molecular taxonomy than other parts of the Southern Ocean, such as the Ross Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Collaborative East Antarctic MARine Census (CEAMARC) took place in this area during the austral summer of 2007e2008. The Australian vessel RSVAurora Australis collected very diverse samples of demersal and benthic organisms. The specimens were sorted centrally, and then distributed to taxonomic experts for molecular and morphological taxonomy and identification, especially barcoding. The COI sequences generated from CEAMARC material provide a sizeable proportion of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life barcodes although the studies are still ongoing, and represent the only source of sequences for a number of species. Barcoding appears to be a valuable method for identification within most groups, despite low divergences and haplotype sharing in a few species, and it is also useful as a preliminary taxonomic exploration method. Several new species are being described. CEAMARC samples have already provided new material for phylogeographic and phylogenetic studies in cephalopods, pycnogonids, teleost fish, crinoids and sea urchins, helping these studies to provide a better insight in the patterns of evolution in the Southern Ocean.

Climate warming involves not only a rise of air temperature means, but also more frequent heat waves in many regions on earth, and is predicted to intensify physiological stress especially in extremely changeable habitats like the intertidal. We investigated the heat-shock response (HSR) and enzymatic antioxidant defense levels of Patagonian shallow-water limpets, adapted to distinct tidal exposure conditions in the sub- and intertidal. Limpets were sampled in the temperate Northern Patagonia and the subpolar Magellan region. Expression levels of two Hsp70 genes and activities of the antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were measured in submerged and 2- and 12-h air-exposed specimens. Air-exposed Patagonian limpets showed a tiered HSR increasing from South to North on the latitudinal gradient and from high to low shore levels on a tidal gradient. SOD activities in the Magellan region correlated with the tidal rhythm and were higher after 2 and 12 h when the tide was low at the experimental site compared to the 6 h value taken at high tide. This pattern was observed in intertidal and subtidal specimens, although subtidal individuals are little affected by tides. Our study shows that long-term thermal adaptation shapes the HSR in limpets, while the oxidative stress response is linked to the tidal rhythm. Close to the warm border of their distribution range, energy expenses to cope with stress might become overwhelming and represent one cause why the limpets are unable to colonize the shallow intertidal zone.

This study reports the successful isolation of highly informative microsatellite marker sets for two marine serolid isopod species. For Serolis paradoxa (Fabricius, 1775), 13, and for Septemserolis septemcarinata (Miers, 1875), eight polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated using the reporter genome enrichment protocol. The number of alleles per locus (N(A) ) and the observed heterozygosity (H(O) ) encompass a wide range of variation within S. paradoxa (N(A) 3-31, H(O) 6-89%) and S. septemcarinata (N(A) 2-18, H(O) 9-94%). The suitability of the newly isolated markers for population genetic studies is evaluated.

In this study we provide eight polymorphic microsatellite markers for the two South American patel- logastropods Nacella magellanica and N. deaurata. Allelic diversity ranged from 5 to 57 alleles per locus. Observed heterozygosity varied between 0.1 and 0.98. Three of the four loci designed for N. magellanica cross-amplified also with N. deaurata, and two loci vice versa. Six of the microsatellites successfully cross-amplified with the sister taxon N. mytilina. This set of microsatellites provides a suitable tool for population genetic and phylogeographic studies.

Compatible solutes like ectoine and its derivatives are deployed by halophile organisms as osmolytes to sustain the high salt concentration in the environment. This work investigates the relation of the thermodynamic properties of compatible solutes and their impact as osmolytes. The ectoines considered in this work are ectoine, hydroxyectoine, and homoectoine. Besides solution densities (15-45°C) and solubilities in water (3-80°C), component activity coefficients in the aqueous solutions were determined in the temperature range between 0 and 50°C. The latter is important for adjusting a certain water activity and therewith a respective osmotic pressure within a cell. The characteristic effect of ectoines is compared to that of prolines, as well as to that of incompatible solutes as salts and urea. The experimental results show that the influence on the activity (coefficient) of water is quite different for compatible and incompatible solutes: whereas compatible solutes cause decreasing water activity coefficients, incompatible solutes lead to an increase in water activity coefficients. Based on this quantity, the paper discusses the impact of various osmolytes on biological systems and contributes to the explanation why some osmolytes are more often and at other temperatures used than others. Moreover, it was found that the anti-stress effect of an osmolyte is weakened in the presence of a salt. Finally, it is shown that the thermodynamic properties of compatible solutes can be modeled and even predicted using the thermodynamic model PC-SAFT (Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory).

In this study, we analyse the evolutionary dynamics and phylogenetic implications of gene order rearrangements in five newly sequenced mitochondrial (mt) genomes and four published mt genomes of isopod crustaceans. The sequence coverage is nearly complete for four of the five newly sequenced species, with only the control region and some tRNA genes missing, while in Janira maculosa only two thirds of the genome could be determined. Mitochondrial gene order in isopods seems to be more plastic than that in other crustacean lineages, making all nine known mt gene orders different. Especially the asellote Janira is characterized by many autapomorphies. The following inferred ancestral isopod mt gene order exists slightly modified in modern isopods: nad1, tnrL1, rrnS, control region, trnS1, cob, trnT, nad5, trnF. We consider the inferred gene translocation events leading to gene rearrangements as valuable characters in phylogenetic analyses. In this first study covering major isopod lineages, potential apomorphies were identified, e.g., a shared relative position of trnR in Valvifera. We also report one of the first findings of homoplasy in mitochondrial gene order, namely a shared relative position of trnV in unrelated isopod lineages. In addition to increased taxon sampling secondary structure, modification in tRNAs and GC-skew inversion may be potentially fruitful subjects for future mt genome studies in a phylogenetic context.

Species integrity is maintained only if recurrent allelic exchange between subpopulations occurs by means of migrating specimens. Predictions of this gene flow on the basis of observed or assumed mobility of marine species have proven to be error-prone. Using one mitochondrial gene and seven microsatellite markers, we studied the genetic structure and gene flow in Septemserolis septemcarinata, a strictly benthic species lacking pelagic larvae and the ability to swim. Suitable shallow-water habitats around three remote islands (South Georgia, Bouvet, and Marion Island) are geographically disjunct, isolated by more than 2,000 km of uninhabitable deep sea (east–west) and also separated by the Polar Front (north–south), which serves as a strong demarcation line in many marine taxa. Although we did find genetic differentiation among the three island populations, our results also revealed that a scenario with recent gene flow explains our data best. A model assuming no gene flow after initial colonization of the islands performs significantly worse. The tests also favor an asymmetric gene flow pattern (west to east ≫ east to west) thus mirroring the directionality of major oceanographic currents in the area. We conclude that rare long-distance dispersal rather than vicariance or human-mediated transport must be responsible for the observed patterns. As a mechanism, we propose passive rafting on floating substrata in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness of a physical barrier is not solely a function of its physical parameters but strongly depends on how organisms interact with their environment.

In prior work we reported on the design of a social annotation system, SparTag.us, for use in sensemaking activities such as work-group reading and report writing. Previous studies of note-taking systems have demonstrated behavioral differences in social annotation practices, but are not clear in the actual performance gains provided by social features. This paper presents a laboratory study aimed at evaluating the learning effect of social features in SparTag.us. We found significant learning gains, and consider implications for design and for understanding the underlying mechanisms in play when people use social annotation systems.

In the last few years, social tagging systems have become a standard application of the World Wide Web. These systems can be considered as shared external knowledge structures of users on the Internet. In this paper, we describe how social tagging systems relate to individual semantic memory structures and how social tags affect individual processes of learning and information foraging. Furthermore, we present an experimental online study aimed at evaluating this interaction of external and internal structures of spreading activation. We report on effects of social tagging systems as visualized collective knowledge representations on individual processes of information search and learning.

The taxonomy of two sympatric surf clams Donax marincovichi Coan, 1983 and Donax obesulus Reeve, 1854, inhabiting the coastal Humboldt Current Upwelling System is revisited. Because both species are exploited by artisanal fisheries, it is essential to verify that they are indeed distinct species that have to be managed separately. In this study, both taxa were sampled across their shared distributional area and specimens were indentified according to their respective morphological characteristics. Although width/height and height/length ratios revealed significant differences within sampling areas, the two morphotypes were frequently incongruent for taxonomically important morphometric parameters. In addition, they showed no significant mitochondrial genetic differentiation within or among populations and exhibited indistinguishable sperm ultrastructure. We conclude that the two morphotypes do not represent distinct species and should be included together under D. obesulus.

A population of stone crab (Lithodidae) was encountered on the continental slope off Antarctica in the Bellingshausen Sea between 1,123 and 1,304 m water depths using the ROV-Isis during leg 166 of the RV James Clark Ross, in January 2007. Specimens were video recorded and one specimen was retrieved by ROV for morphological and molecular identification. Based on morphology and molecular data from the mitochondrial COI gene, this specimen identified as P. birsteini, Macpherson, 1988a. The significance of the molecular data and their implications for biogeography and evolution of lithodids in the Southern Ocean are briefly discussed.

During diving explorations of anchialine cave systems on Abaco Island, Bahamas, we collected five larvae that represent different developmental stages of remipede crustaceans. Based on four early naupliar stages and a post-naupliar larva, it is possible for the first time to reconstruct the postembryonic development of Remipedia some 25 years after their discovery. These specimens begin to fill in some critical gaps in our knowledge of this important group of crustaceans.

The Southern Ocean is surprisingly rich in species that coexist in one of the most extreme environments on Earth yet the processes leading to speciation in this ecosystem are not well understood. To remedy this, tools that measure the genetic connectedness within a species are needed. Although useful for phylogenetic purposes, the readily available mitochondrial markers (e.g. 16S, COI) suffer from numerous shortcomings for population genetics. Therefore, molecular markers are needed that are sufficiently variable, unlinked, biparentally inherited, and distributed over the whole genome. We argue that microsatellites are suitable markers that have not been widely used in exploratory studies due to their difficult initial set-up. Working with the Ceratoserolis trilobitoides species complex (Isopoda), we demonstrate that using a novel protocol many microsatellites can be identified quickly. An increased availability of these highly sensitive markers will be useful for studies addressing the origin of species in the Southern Ocean and their response to future climate change.

A Karger 'Publishing Highlights 1890-2015' title Dieses Fachbuch fullt eine Lucke in der Demenzliteratur: kompetent, praxisbezogen und umfassend vermittelt es eine vorbildliche Kultur der Heimbetreuung. Die Leser werden in einer zuganglichen, unpratentiosen Sprache mit der Alzheimerkrankheit und dem Leben im Heim vertraut gemacht. Auch heikle Themen, Tabus und Schwierigkeiten werden angesprochen. Die verschiedenen Aspekte der Tatigkeiten in einem demenzgerechten Heim haben alle ein gemeinsames Ziel: bestmogliche Lebensqualitat fur die demenzbetroffenen Menschen im Heim. Die zugrunde liegende Pflegephilosophie ist, dass jeder Schweregrad der Alzheimerdemenz eine spezifische Betreuung und eine entsprechend angepasste Umgebung fordert. Was das konkret bedeutet, ist im vierten und wichtigsten Teil des Buches dargestellt. Fur drei Phasen im Demenzverlauf werden, von der Pflegephilosophie bis zur Kuche und Hauswirtschaft, alle wichtigen Aspekte der Heimbetreuung und Heimgestaltung vorgestellt. Die wesentlichen Instrumente zur Erfassung des Schweregrads der Krankheit und der Alltagsbeeintrachtigungen sind im Anhang aufgefuhrt. Noch immer wird Demenz als wichtigste Ursache der Pflege- und Betreuungsbedurftigkeit in der Altersarbeit, vor allem bei der Planung und im Betrieb von Altersinstitutionen, verdrangt und verschwiegen. Dieses Buch wendet sich deshalb ebenso an Pflegepersonal, Heimleiter und Arzte wie an Architekten und Mitglieder von Behorden, die an der Planung eines Heims beteiligt sind. Nicht zuletzt stellt das Buch einen ausgezeichneten Ratgeber fur die Angehorigen Demenzbetroffener dar.

Pieris brassicae L. is adapted to a wide variety of local climates throughout the Palaeartic by means of geographic variation in daylengths and temperatures triggering winter diapause. We report for the first time a population from Sotogrande in southern Spain (strain S) that additionally exhibits a pronounced summer diapause in the pupal stage as a response to long daylengths. As well as having diapause triggered by long daylengths, this population develops directly at short, ecologically relevant daylengths. This unusual short-day type response is expressed at temperatures of 21 degrees C and above. The absence of cryptic summer diapause in a population from southern France indicates that this summer diapause evolved locally in Spain or Northern Africa in a population of P. brassicae which lacked this trait. The PPRs of strains S, H (Denmark) and B (France) and crosses between them suggest that summer diapause is inherited as a recessive allele which has a clinal decrease of frequency in populations northwards. The population from southern France shows that this simple pattern of inheritance is further modified by an unknown genetic mechanism controlling the expression of summer diapause near the border between aestivating and non-aestivating populations. On the basis of the photoperiodic response and climatic data we predict P. brassicae to have five or more generations each year in southern Spain. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The phylogenetic relationships of 14 species of the Antarctic amphipod families Epimeriidae and Iphimediidae were investigated using 553 bp of the gene for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 98 morphological characters. Both families are dominant members of the Antarctic benthic amphipod community. In contrast to previous studies, our molecular and morphological data suggest that the families Epimeriidae and Iphimediidae may not be sister taxa. Our study suggests that Iphimediidae are more closely related to Eusirus (Eusiridae) than to Epimeria (Epimeriidae). Phylogenetic analyses based on maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) indicate that the genera Iphimediella and Gnathiphimedia are not monophyletic.

Introduction Many marine planktonic crustaceans such as copepods have been considered as widespread organisms. However, the growing evidence for cryptic and pseudo-cryptic speciation has emphasized the need of re-evaluating the status of copepod species complexes in molecular and morphological studies to get a clearer picture about pelagic marine species as evolutionary units and their distributions. This study analyses the molecular diversity of the ecologically important Paracalanus parvus species complex. Its seven currently recognized species are abundant and also often dominant in marine coastal regions worldwide from temperate to tropical oceans. Results COI and Cytochrome b sequences of 160 specimens of the Paracalanus parvus complex from all oceans were obtained. Furthermore, 42 COI sequences from GenBank were added for the genetic analyses. Thirteen distinct molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) and two single sequences were revealed with cladistic analyses (Maximum Likelihood, Bayesian Inference), of which seven were identical with results from species delimitation methods (barcode gaps, ABDG, GMYC, Rosenberg’s P(AB)). In total, 10 to 12 putative species were detected and could be placed in three categories: (1) temperate geographically isolated, (2) warm-temperate to tropical wider spread and (3) circumglobal warm-water species. Conclusions The present study provides evidence of cryptic or pseudocryptic speciation in the Paracalanus parvus complex. One major insight is that the species Paracalanus parvus s.s. is not panmictic, but may be restricted in its distribution to the northeastern Atlantic.

In this study, a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for 16 species of serolid isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda, Serolidae) from Antarctic waters, the deep sea, South America, and Australia is presented. The genes used are a 500-bp fragment of the mitochondrial LSU rRNA gene and a 700-bp fragment located in the variable region V4 of the nuclear SSU rRNA gene. The species composition and monophyly of morphologically defined genera of which several members were available are confirmed by the molecular data (Ceratoserolis, Spinoserolis, and Cuspidoserolis). The molecular data also support the redefinition of Frontoserolis s.l. and Serolella and the erection of the new genera Septemserolis and Paraserolis, as proposed by W]agele. The relationship among several genera is resolved differently in the molecular hypothesis than in the two existing morphological hypotheses, however. The molecular phylogeny may have important consequences for understanding the biogeography of the Serolidae, indicating that all Antarctic species in this study form a monophyletic group which has probably derived from species with closest extant relatives in South America. All 3 species included in this study living today in deep waters (>2000 m) of the Southern Ocean are most closely related to species living on the Antarctic shelf, so that parallel colonization of the deep sea by way of polar submergence can be reconstructed. In this study, a V4 expansion segment is reported which exceeds the longest crustacean sequences known until now by more than 270 bp. Although the V4 expansion segment has proven useful for phylogenetic purposes in this study, there is circumstantial evidence that its mechanism of evolution may depend not only on inheritance of single-site substitutions, making its routine use in phylogenetic studies potentially dangerous.

Background Rising temperatures and other environmental factors influenced by global climate change can cause increased physiological stress for many species and lead to range shifts or regional population extinctions. To advance the understanding of species’ response to change and establish links between individual and ecosystem adaptations, physiological reactions have to be compared between populations living in different environments. Although changes in expression of stress genes are relatively easy to quantify, methods for reliable comparison of the data remain a contentious issue. Using normalization algorithms and further methodological considerations, we compare cellular stress response gene expression levels measured by RT-qPCR after air exposure experiments among different subpopulations of three species of the intertidal limpet Nacella. Results Reference gene assessment algorithms reveal that stable reference genes can differ among investigated populations and / or treatment groups. Normalized expression values point to differential defense strategies to air exposure in the investigated populations, which either employ a pronounced cellular stress response in the inducible Hsp70 forms, or exhibit a comparatively high constitutive expression of Hsps (heat shock proteins) while showing only little response in terms of Hsp induction. Conclusions This study serves as a case study to explore the methodological prerequisites of physiological stress response comparisons among ecologically and phylogenetically different organisms. To improve the reliability of gene expression data and compare the stress responses of subpopulations under potential genetic divergence, reference gene stability algorithms are valuable and necessary tools. As the Hsp70 isoforms have been shown to play different roles in the acute stress responses and increased constitutive defenses of populations in their different habitats, these comparative studies can yield insight into physiological strategies of adaptation to environmental stress and provide hints for the prudent use of the cellular stress response as a biomarker to study environmental stress and stress adaptation of populations under changing environmental conditions. Keywords: Ecological physiology; Cellular stress response; Hsp70; RT-qPCR; Gene expression; Normalization; Intertidal; Nacella