The microclimate experienced by organisms is determined by local weather conditions. Yet the environmental data available for predicting the effect of climate on the distribution and abundance of organisms are typically in the form of long-term average monthly climate measured at standardized heights above the ground.Here, we demonstrate how hourly microclimates can be modelled mechanistically over decades at the continental scale with biologically suitable accuracy.We extend the microclimate model of the software package niche mapper to capture spatial and temporal variation in soil thermal properties and integrate it with gridded soil and weather data for Australia at 0 center dot 05 degrees resolution.When tested against historical observations of soil temperature, the microclimate model predicted 85% of the variation in hourly soil temperature across 10years from the surface to 1m deep with an accuracy of 2-3 center dot 3 degrees C (c. 10% of the temperature range at a given depth) across an extremely climatically diverse range of sites.This capacity to accurately and mechanistically predict hourly local microclimates across continental scales creates new opportunities for understanding how organisms respond to changes in climate.

In this study, we were able to identify individual mosquito larva of Aedes aegypti in terms of their discrete ability to function as vector for Dengue virus using RAPD fingerprinting of genomic DNA. Four different methodologies of genomic DNA isoltation were evaulated based on economy and efficiency and 24 hour SDS lysis satisfied both criterias. Nine 10-base primers were evaluated and only five of them, A2, B1, C13, AA1 and AA3, were found potentially suitable for RAPD fingerprinting. All fingerprinting profiles were analyzed by a in-house designed artificial intelligence software but only those of A1 and B1 were analyzed using Similarity Index and Percent Matching. Out of these three methods, only the results from the software were highly promising. The best result was obtained from profiles by primer C13 with 98% accuracy and a standard deviation of 3%. Thus, we concluded that RAPD fingerprinting of genomic DNA could be employed to discretely characterize individual mosquito of Aedes aegypti in terms of their ability to perform as a vector for Dengue virus.

There have been large volumes of literature published on mouse intracellular protein-protein interactions. However, there have been little attempts to aggregate these information into a usable model or concept map of protein-protein interactions, such as protein-protein bindings and activations. We have established a process for the handling and analysis of published abstracts from PubMed to extract information on protein-protein interactions, using only open source software and tools. A Firebird database, Muscopedia, which forms the central point of this pipeline, is used to store the abstracts and its processed forms. Muscopedia is interfaced to Python programming language through a Python DB-API compliant library, kinterbasdb. Abstracts were downloaded from PubMed using NCBI’s Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) server and scanned for abbreviations using BioNLP server in Stanford University. Terms in the abstracts were substituted for their abbrevations , for example, the term “SOCS” is substituted for “suppressor of cytokine signaling”, before text processing using MontyLingua. MontyLingua is a natural language processing kit, which has ‘commonsense’ built in and is used to process each abstract into a list of subject-verb-object (SVO) structure. On average, each abstract will be processed into 30 to 40 SVOs. Information on protein-protein interactions can then be extracted from this set of SVOs by using suitable verbs. These information will then be used to construct a concept map of protein-protein interactions.

Good water quality is essential for the health of our aquatic ecosystems. Continuous water quality monitoring is an important tool for catchment management authorities, providing real-time data for environmental protection and tracking pollution sources; however, continuous water quality monitoring at high temporal and spatial resolution remains prohibitively expensive. An affordable wireless aquatic monitoring system will enable cost-effective water quality data collection, assisting catchment managers to maintain the health of aquatic ecosystems. In this paper, a low-cost wireless water physio-chemistry sensing system is presented. The results indicate that with appropriate calibration, a reliable monitoring system can be established. This will allow catchment managers to continuously monitoring the quality of the water at higher spatial resolution than has previously been feasible, and to maintain this surveillance over an extended period of time. In addition, it helps to understand the behavior of aquatic animals relative to water pollution using data analysis.

The peptide hormone relaxin has striking effects on the vascular system. Specifically, endogenous relaxin treatment reduces myogenic reactivity through nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasorelaxation and increases arterial compliance in small resistance arteries. However, less is known about the vascular roles of endogenous relaxin, particularly in males. Therefore, we used male wild-type (Rln+/+) and relaxin knockout (Rln-/-) mice to test the hypothesis that passive wall properties and vascular reactivity in mesenteric arteries would be compromised in Rln-/- mice. Passive compliance was determined in arteries (n=8-9) mounted on a pressure myograph and in Ca2+-free Krebs containing 2 mM EGTA. Passive volume compliance was significantly (P=0.01) decreased in the mesenteric arteries of Rln-/- mice. Vascular reactivity was assessed using wire myography. In mesenteric arteries (n=5) of Rln-/- mice, there was a significant (P<0.03) increase in sensitivity to the vasoconstrictors phenylephrine and thromboxane-mimetic U41669. This enhanced responsiveness to vasoconstrictors was abolished by endothelial denudation, and attributed to impaired NO and prostanoid pathways in Rln-/- mice. Sensitivity to the endothelial agonist acetylcholine was significantly (n=7-9, P ≤ 0.03) decreased, and this was abolished in the presence of the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin (2 µM). This indicates that prostanoid vasoconstrictor pathways were upregulated in the mesenteric arteries of Rln-/- mice. In summary, we demonstrate endothelial dysfunction and impaired arterial wall remodeling in male mice deficient in relaxin. Thus, our results highlight a role for endogenous relaxin in the maintenance of normal mesenteric artery structure and function in males.

Females in a variety of taxa mate with more than one male during a single oestrus and exhibit mate preferences for genetically compatible males, but the influence of female mate choice on siring success is not clearly understood. Whether females choose to mate with more than one male or endure forced copulations is also often unknown. Here, we examined the effects of genetic relatedness on female mate choice and siring success in a small semelparous carnivorous marsupial, the agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis), during two consecutive breeding seasons. Experimental trials were conducted in captivity over periods of 72 hours using interconnected enclosures in which female antechinus could choose to access any of four separated males, but males were only able to access females that entered their quarters. Females had access to two genetically similar and two genetically dissimilar males simultaneously and all behavioural interactions were observed and scored from continuous video recordings. Genetic similarity between mates and paternity of young was determined by microsatellite analyses. Some females chose to enter and mate with more than one male during a single oestrus period. Although females investigated all males, they spent significantly more time visiting, and mated more times with, genetically dissimilar males. Males that were genetically dissimilar to the female sired 88% of subsequent offspring. Whilst males mated readily with most females, they rejected the advances of some receptive females, indicating a previously unexpected level of male mate choice. The results show that genetic relatedness between mates has a significant influence on mate choice, breeding and siring success in the agile antechinus.

BACKGROUND: The placenta is essential for supplying nutrients and gases to the developing mammalian young before birth. While all mammals have a functional placenta, only in therian mammals (marsupials and eutherians) does the placenta closely appose or invade the uterine endometrium. The eutherian placenta secretes hormones that are structurally and functionally similar to pituitary growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Marsupial and eutherian mammals diverged from a common ancestor approximately 125 to 148 million years ago and developed distinct reproductive strategies. As in eutherians, marsupials rely on a short-lived but functional placenta for embryogenesis. RESULTS: We characterized pituitary GH, GH-R, IGF-2, PRL and LHβ in a macropodid marsupial, the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii. These genes were expressed in the tammar placenta during the last third of gestation when most fetal growth occurs and active organogenesis is initiated. The mRNA of key growth genes GH, GH-R, IGF-2 and PRL were expressed during late pregnancy. We found significant up-regulation of GH, GH-R and IGF-2 after the start of the rapid growth phase of organogenesis which suggests that the placental growth hormones regulate the rapid phase of fetal growth. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first demonstration of the existence of pituitary hormones in the marsupial placenta. Placental expression of these pituitary hormones has clearly been conserved in marsupials as in eutherian mammals, suggesting an ancestral origin of the evolution of placental expression and a critical function of these hormones in growth and development of all therian mammals.

In female (XX) mammals, one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated to ensure an equal dose of X-linked genes with males (XY). X-chromosome inactivation in eutherian mammals is mediated by the non-coding RNA Xist. Xist is not found in metatherians (marsupials), and how X-chromosome inactivation is initiated in these mammals has been the subject of speculation for decades. Using the marsupial Monodelphis domestica, here we identify Rsx (RNA-on-the-silent X), an RNA that has properties consistent with a role in X-chromosome inactivation. Rsx is a large, repeat-rich RNA that is expressed only in females and is transcribed from, and coats, the inactive X chromosome. In female germ cells, in which both X chromosomes are active, Rsx is silenced, linking Rsx expression to X-chromosome inactivation and reactivation. Integration of an Rsx transgene on an autosome in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to gene silencing in cis. Our findings permit comparative studies of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals and pose questions about the mechanisms by which X-chromosome inactivation is achieved in eutherians.